Vash meets the Enterprise
by silverado6000
Summary: 5 years after Under a Sky so Blue, Vash and company try to find a new Eden. But they run into the crew of the USS Enterprise-E. Chapter 10 up!
1. A Plan and a Wormhole

The Trigun part of this fic takes place 5 years after Under a Sky so Blue. The Star Trek part takes place about a year after the movie Insurrection. Please R&R.  
  
I do not own Trigun or Star Trek.  
  
**** Means big scene change  
  
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Planet Gunsmoke:  
  
Vash could not believe that it had been five years since he faced Knives. Five years since he returned to Meryl and Millie with his brother's limp form.  
  
But it had been. He ran his hand across his golden hair while looking in the mirror. The last five years sure did pass by quickly. In that time, Knives lost his resentment of the humans and even stopped calling them 'spiders'. Millie had changed his attitude. He hadn't seen his brother for three years though. He and Millie ran off together.  
  
Thinking of his brother falling for Millie made him think of his own relationship with the other insurance girl that had followed him for so long. It had been four years since he asked Meryl to marry him. Now they lived peacefully in December.  
  
Although he had his left arm gun replaced again, he hadn't used it for several years. That and his silver Colt .45 revolver had found its way back into his life again. No matter how he tried to lose that gun, it always found its own way back to him. He finally gave up and decided to keep it. He hadn't had the red trench coat since his fight with Knives and he didn't plan on having another one made anytime soon.  
  
As he was lost in his thoughts, a knock came to the bathroom door.  
  
"Daddy, Mommy says hurry up or you'll be late for work!" His daughter shouted.  
  
"Ok Rem. Tell mommy I'll be down in a minute." He responded with a genuine smile. His daughter looked so much like her mother. The same raven hair, the same attention o detail, and the same fiery attitude. Although she got her aqua eyes and love for doughnuts from himself, she was mostly like her mother.  
  
He pulled on his black body suit that he always wore under the red coat. Being a bodyguard kept him wearing the same cloths mostly. Meryl still worked at the insurance company, but she stopped being a field investigator so they could have a peaceful life together.  
  
As he walked downstairs, he saw his daughter getting ready for school. She was only Three years old but she looked like she was ten. He figured that his Plant DNA was responsible for the accelerated growing. She adjusted well though. She made new friends quickly in each school that she attended. And she attended a lot of different schools.  
  
As he entered the kitchen he noticed his wife standing by the stove cleaning it off. He also noticed the large plate of doughnuts sitting on the table. He was being torn between kissing the love of his life or eating the other love of his life. He settled that being hit by the first one was the deciding factor of why he walked up behind her. He placed his arms around her and pulled her back into a quick morning kiss.  
  
"I see you finally got ready. And you finally avoided the doughnuts in the morning and came straight to me." She responded after she broke free of his grasp.  
  
"What? You mean you deliberately put those there each morning so you could smack me!" He exclaimed shocked. Then his face turned into a pout as he slumped down in a chair. "That's mean."  
  
"Well you do go for them each morning. I thought I would." She trailed off when she heard knocking at their front door.  
  
"I'll get it!" Rem shouted happily from the front room.  
  
"Ok now where were we?" Vash asked prying deeper into Meryl's 'training'.  
  
"Well." She was cut off again.  
  
"Daddy! Uncle Knives is here!" Rem shouted as she walked back to get her books and leave for school.  
  
"Knives?" Vash questioned as he walked into the front room.  
  
Sure enough. His twin brother was standing there with Millie. He had a smile on his face that Vash had rarely seen.  
  
"Vash!" Knives exclaimed as he walked over and hugged his brother. "I need to talk to you." His voice suddenly became serious.  
  
'What is it?' Vash began the mental conversation with his brother.  
  
'I found a ship that still can fly.' He responded. 'It was one that the SEEDS crew used to fly between ships.'  
  
'That helps us how?' Vash questioned. He was just as confused as always at his brother's plan.  
  
'You never change. Its big enough for five people.' He added. He wanted to see if his brother could add things up for himself.  
  
'I still don't get it.' Vash responded.  
  
"Do I have to spell it out for you every time?" Knives asked. He was surprised that his brother, who is almost 140 years old, could be so stupid.  
  
"Spell what out dear?" Meryl asked as she entered to find out what was going on.  
  
"I guess I will explain it to your wife since you can't comprehend it." Knives said turning towards Meryl.  
  
"Sempi!" Millie exclaimed as she ran over to her long time friend and hugger her. "But Knives, you still haven't explained the whole thing to me yet."  
  
"Since it involves all of you, I will explain it to all of you at once." Knives wanted his brother to be the first to know but that wasn't going to happen.  
  
"Go on," Vash added. He now became interested in whatever his brother had to say.  
  
"I found a working cargo ship with a couple of cryogenic sleep chambers. We can use it to find another planet. A new Eden." Knives said finally spilling his secret.  
  
Meryl, Millie and Rem stood shocked. Vash, however, was looking for answers.  
  
"It would be just us then what? Move them all to this new planet? That would take Centuries!" Vash said remembering his experiences on the SEEDS ship.  
  
"I also found some charts that read that there was life on other planets. If these other planets have enough technology, we could move the entire Human race to a better planet." Knives responded hoping that it would convince his brother, and everyone else present, that they could find a new Eden.  
  
"Where is it?" Meryl asked. The information had just sunk into her head.  
  
"It is by where me and Millie live. About 7 iles outside of January in a ship that is underground." Knives explained carefully.  
  
"Let's go see it then. Maybe we can find a new Eden and bring everyone to it. We could finally make everyone happy. We would have a place with no wars." Vash started.  
  
".Nor stealing." Knives continued.  
  
".Just happy days where." Millie followed.  
  
".People can live as people." Meryl finished the old saying that they all new by heart now. "I think it is worth a shot. Rem you're not going to school today. We are all going to January!"  
  
"Get your things ready. We may not be coming back for some time." Knives added.  
  
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Sector 001 Sol system:  
  
Captain Picard sat in his ready room aboard the USS Enterprise-E sipping a cup of Earl Grey tea. The refits to the Sovereign class starship had just been finished. They were preparing to leave the spacedock and return to their normal duties.  
  
On the bridge, Commander Riker was overseeing the last few modifications to the computer consoles. He was proud of how the ship had performed in the Briar Patch a few months ago, but he agreed that the ship lacked somewhat on weapon power.  
  
Captain Picard entered the bridge from his ready room. He straightened his command uniform and slowly walked to his chair in the center. He noticed Lieutenant Commander Worf at the tactical console and Lieutenant Commander Data at the Ops console.  
  
"Are we ready to depart Number1?" Picard asked as e sat in his chair.  
  
"Yes sir. All sections report that the upgrades are finished and we are ready to leave spacedock." Riker responded as he walked to his chair on the Captain's left.  
  
"Very good. Hail spacedock." Picard ordered. He was ready to get under way again. He knew he was only going to be putting out brushfires along the borders, but it still had meaning.  
  
"Spacedock confirms and gives us permission to depart." Data responded facing the viewscreen.  
  
"Very well, Mr. Tanner take us out at one-quarter impulse power." Picard ordered. He then added his most familiar statement. "Engage." He pointed his hand towards the front of the bride to signify the direction of the ship.  
  
The ship left the spacedock as it had several times before. The impulse engines were glowing a dull red as the ship exited and started for the outside rim of the system.  
  
"We are clear of spacedock and free to navigate sir." Ensign Tanner responded.  
  
"Take us on course 187 mark 256. Warp four." Picard ordered. He wanted to give the engines a chance to run before heading towards Deep Space 9 and Cardassian space to transport supplies for the rebuilding of Cardassia Prime.  
  
"Course and speed plotted sir." Tanner responded.  
  
"Engage." Picard said once again.  
  
The Enterprise turned and shot into warp speeds. After a few seconds a bright flash of silver red and yellow light appeared in front of the ship.  
  
"All stop. Mr. Data what the hell is that?" Picard called out. He was curious at what anomaly could be so close to the federation home world and not be detected before now.  
  
"It has the same characteristics as the Bajoran Wormhole sir. Intriguing that it was not discovered before now. We should chart it before moving on." Data responded in his matter of fact voice.  
  
"Sir, the engines are not holding at station keeping. The wormhole is drawing us in." Worf reported from his station.  
  
"Reverse engines. Keep us out of there." Picard said calmly.  
  
"It's not working sir. Every drop we put into the engines is matched by the pull it has on us." Tanner reported. The ship then shook violently throwing several people out of their chairs. The red alert automatically sounded and the klaxons began chirping as the bridge fell into the red glow that always accompanied it.  
  
"Report!" Picard commanded as he staggered back to his chair.  
  
"Structural stress levels at 83 percent of maximum and rising. Shields, weapons and warp drive are offline. We are approximately 7000 kilometers from the horizon of the wormhole." Worf shouted for the entire bridge crew to hear.  
  
"Ahead full. Take us into the wormhole before it tears us apart on this end." Picard commanded. He knew that it wasn't the best idea but he really didn't have another choice.  
  
"Ahead full sir. We will break the event horizon in 3, 2, 1 penetrating now!" Data called out.  
  
The view from the Sol system saw the ship disappear into the swirling colors. Followed by the whole thing vanishing just as quickly as it had shown up.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
It was nightfall by the time Vash, Knives, Meryl, Millie and Rem made it to January. While the three females were sleeping, Vash and Knives had been talking about Knives' plan.  
  
"You really think we are going to find a race with more technology than us?" Vash asked.  
  
"Most of the Humans believed that there were several other races out there. They charted several planets with deep space probes while the ships were traveling. Some of them came back with readings of life signs." Knives responded, recalling what he had found on the buried ship.  
  
"That doesn't mean that they have better technology. They could be more primitive than we are." Vash pointed out.  
  
"Don't you think it is worth a chance if we can find a new Eden though?" Knives asked. He wanted his brother to go with him when they left the planet.  
  
"I guess. But it could still take us years to find one. What about the girls?"  
  
"There are three cryogenic sleep tanks on this ship. They can sleep while we do the searching. We live forever, remember?"  
  
"That is going to be lonely. I don't want to be lonely. Only five people and three will be sleeping the whole time. That sounds damned lonely." Vash was beginning to have second thoughts.  
  
"Remember, make the smallest sacrifice at the given time." Knives responded trying to convince his brother.  
  
"The last time you said that to me was when you had just marooned everyone here." Vash started to doubt his brother's intentions.  
  
"Ok that was a bad choice of words. But think Vash. We have a chance at finding Eden." The thought of Eden still played with him constantly.  
  
"They should at least be awake when we leave the atmosphere. The should at least see space and the planet below them before putting them in stasis." Vash ended. He decided that it was worth the sacrifice to try for a new Eden.  
  
"You're right. Hey what's that?" Knives looked at the sky and seen a bright shimmer of silver, red, and yellow light appear between the third and fourth moons.  
  
"I don't know. I have never seen that happen before. Would the ships logs have something on it?" Vash asked his interest now in the sparkling light.  
  
"Maybe. Hey it's gone!" Knives responded. Just as he said the light was gone from the sky.  
  
"Let's find your house and sleep some. We've been driving all day. We might be seeing things." Vash offered.  
  
"Both of us seeing the same thing?" Knives didn't agree with having the same hallucinations as his brother.  
  
"We are linked telepathically aren't we?" Vash responded proving his point.  
  
"Not that much. I think it may have been something like the northern lights that occurred on Earth that we read about on the SEEDS ship. Remember?" Knives added.  
  
"Yeah it could be a natural thing that happens when the moons line up just right." Vash added as the continued driving into the night towards the city of January.  
  
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I hope this turned out good. I tried to keep the characters close to who they are. Please don't fry me completely if you don't like it. But please do review. It will help out drastically. 


	2. One group goes up and one group comes do...

Due to enormous success, I decided to work on the second chapter right away. I would like to thank all of the reviewers and will start doing comments to you great people in the next chapter. Anyway, the two sides will meet in this chapter.  
  
I do not own Star Trek nor Trigun.  
  
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As Vash followed Knives into the recesses of the crashed ship, he was beginning to wonder if there really was something that still worked. The walls and floors had been covered in a thick layer of sand. The flashlights that he and his brother carried were the only source of illumination.  
  
"Knives," Vash began. "Where exactly is this shuttle?" He was growing tired of searching with no results.  
  
"It is in the hangar bay." Knives responded. He knew exactly where he was going and couldn't figure out why Vash didn't know. "Didn't you wander the SEEDS ships enough?"  
  
"No. I didn't think it was going to help me 135 years later. Doesn't this ship have power still?" He was growing weary from walking in the dark.  
  
"Yes, but I'm reserving it to open the doors so we can get the shuttle out. I'm not sure how much power is left." Knives finished as he approached a door that had been previously forced open. The words on the door said 'Hangar Bay 2'.  
  
Knives slipped his body through the doors and was closely followed by Vash. Vash stopped in his tracks when he seen one shuttle still in perfect condition. As Knives walked over to its hatch, Vash walked around it to see how it had survived the crash. Knives opened the side hatch and stepped inside.  
  
"Should I open the outer doors Knives?" Vash asked. Now that he had seen the ship, he no longer doubted his brother.  
  
"No. We should get the girls down here and gather a few things before launching. We should also do it at night. We will attract less attention that way." Knives responded coolly as e checked the shuttles power readings.  
  
"Ok. Then lets go get everyone." Vash started for the door to find his way back out again. Knives powered down the shuttle and followed him out.  
  
"We should be ready inside of a day." Knives said as he caught up with his brother. "Then we will be off to find a new Eden!"  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
Captain Picard picked himself up off of the Enterprise's deck. As he opened his eyes he scanned around the bridge. All of the personnel were recovering from the rough trip they had just experienced. He stood up on shaky legs and headed for his chair.  
  
"Damage report, Mr. Worf." He ordered as he fell into his chair.  
  
The Klingon officer stood and manned his station. Slowly going over the numbers he prepared for the worst he could see.  
  
"Phasers, torpedoes, shields, warp drive, and subspace communications all down sir. Minimal damage to deck 12. 23 injuries reported. Main power at 57 percent." The Lieutenant was concerned about being without weapons or defense.  
  
"Mr. Data. Where the hell are we?" Picard started to regain all of his composure as the rest of the bridge crew returned to their stations.  
  
"Interesting. Sensors cannot find any familiar marks in space. It would seem that we are not in our own galaxy anymore." Data responded in his normal voice.  
  
"What? How far do you estimate we have traveled?" Picard was beginning to be concerned.  
  
"I would estimate traveled distance at 700 million light years or more. Sensor logs indicate that the wormhole is stable enough to pass through in the same fashion as the Bajoran wormhole. However, with our experience on the Federation side, we would need warp speeds to travel it safely." Data finished. His habits of giving to much information were showing through again.  
  
"Report on our surroundings." Commander Riker added his voice to the conversation.  
  
"We are currently between two moons of a class H planet. Sensors detect that the system has binary stars and 15 planets. Sensors also detecting humanoid life on the surface." Worf finished. His voice trailed off after the last comment.  
  
"Humanoid? Are you certain?" Riker commented.  
  
"Yes sir. It is a pre warp civilization. Curios how they could live on a planet with no oceans or above ground water supplies?" Data added in confirming what Worf had reported.  
  
"Continue scans." Picard tapped the controls on his chair. "Bridge to Engineering."  
  
"LaForge Here sir." Came the reply over the ships intercom.  
  
"How long until we have warp power again Geordie?" Picard asked.  
  
"At least a couple of days. That wormhole really did us a number. I'm on it though. Engineering out." The intercom went silent again.  
  
"It appears we have some time on our hands." Picard started. The officers that knew him could tell what was coming next. "Let's find out what we can about this planet. Mr. Data scan for settlements and what the locals wear. I'd like to send down an away team to find out why there are humans this far away."  
  
"Aye sir." Data responded.  
  
Captain Picard walked out off of the bridge and into his ready room to await the reports to come in.  
  
"Captain's log stardate 53789.4. We have traveled a great distance and landed in an unknown area of space. While trying to restore engines we are investigating the nearby planet and its human life."  
  
Captain Picard was sitting at the conference table waiting for the last of his senior officers to enter the room. When Dr. Crusher entered he took that as his cue to start the meeting.  
  
"We all know that the first order of business is the damages suffered. According to Geordie, we should have engine power in a few days. So, onto the real reason why I called you all in here. There are human life signs down there on that planet. I want an away team, headed by Commander Riker. Data inform us on the conditions on the planet." Picard concluded.  
  
"According to the information that short range scans has provided, we have determined that this race, at one point, had space travel abilities. We had detected several thousand crashed ships across the entire surface of the planet. Most cities have evolved from these crash sites." Data began.  
  
"What about civilian attire? And local law enforcement?" Riker asked.  
  
"They appear to wear attire closely resembling Earth's Old West during the early 1800's. Black powder weapons and steam-powered vehicles are the extent of their technology. Law enforcement seems to follow the same lines." Data responded. "However, the sensors detect no forms of scanners that could detect this ship or any transporter actions. We have a definite upper hand."  
  
"Thank you Data." Picard cut him off. "I want to ensure you all that the Prime Directive is in full force. Don't attract any attention to yourselves. Find out what you ca about these crashed ships and where they originated from. Number 1, do you have a team ready?"  
  
"Yes sir. Dr. Crusher, and Councilor Troi will accompany me. Trying to keep it light down there." Riker responded.  
  
"Good. Then you are all dismissed. I expect the beam down to take place within the hour." Picard finished as he stood up. The rest of the officers also stood and filtered out of the doors.  
  
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"Do we have everything?" Vash asked Meryl for the fifth time.  
  
"Yes, again." She responded. "How many times do I have to tell you?"  
  
"Ok. I got it this time." He replied as he looked around the hangar bay.  
  
Vash and Knives had made all of the preparations to leave. They were just waiting for nightfall so they could begin the process of opening the outer doors. Waiting was beginning to bother them all.  
  
"Daddy, when will we be leaving?" Rem had been more than patient for a child her age.  
  
"Soon sweetie. We just have to wait until night so we don't draw everyone towards the ship." Vash responded trying to quiet his child.  
  
"I hope it comes soon. I want to be the first to go into space!" For never having heard of the idea before, she seemed really excited to be in this small group.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
In a back alley in the city of January was cast into shadows by the last afternoon suns. No one was present, and no one ever traveled through it. The dark alley suddenly started glowing with small blue particles. As the glow died down, Riker, Troi and Crusher were standing in the previously empty alley.  
  
"Riker to Enterprise. We are safely down and proceeding out of the alley." Riker stated taping his com-badge lightly.  
  
"Acknowledged Commander. Keep me informed of your situation. Picard out." Came the reply from the hidden communicator.  
  
"Right. Lets go." Riker said to the two women. As they walked out into the sun, Riker was glad that he chose to wear a wide brimmed cowboy hat. His black pants, black shirt, black vest, and black duster fit in well with the local population when he seen them for the first time. Deanna Troi was wearing a red dress and a matching wide red bonnet. Dr. Crusher was wearing a blue dress similar to Deanna's with a white bonnet.  
  
Riker led the way. He had studied the maps of the city that Data had provided him so they could find the places that ad the most people gathered. Beverly Crusher had her tricorder operating in her handbag scanning the local population.  
  
"Deanna, what do you sense about these people?" Riker asked.  
  
"Just average emotions coming from each of them. Nothing out of the ordinary." Her Betazed half gave her the abilities to sense other peoples emotions.  
  
"We'll keep looking around then. We're bound to hear something." Riker led the way as they noticed homes ad shops along the road they were walking down.  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
Night was beginning to fall and the away team had uncovered nothing.  
  
"It seems the locals have no knowledge about how they were stranded here. I doubt we can extract information from them." Riker was speaking into his communicator while hiding in the back part of a bar.  
  
"We going to beam you up Number 1. No sense in you staying there all night." Replied the voice of Captain Picard.  
  
"Sir. There is no real threat on the surface here. We could stay the night down here. It could give us a chance at getting to know some of the locals. We may find out some more from them." Riker replied.  
  
"Where are you going to stay? Certainly not outside."  
  
"We have scanned some of their money. We could replicate some of their currency and use a hotel. Transferring data now." Riker worked the controls of the tricorder in his pocket.  
  
"Where do you want us to transport the money?" Picard asked.  
  
"Place it directly in front of me. No one should see it."  
  
The blue light of the transporter beam appeared and disappeared leaving behind a small wad of 100 double dollar bills.  
  
"Will contact you from the room. Riker out." He picked up the small wad of cash and headed towards Deanna and Beverly who were currently engaging in a conversation with the bartender.  
  
"So how many bounty hunters are after this guy?" Deanna asked the bartender.  
  
"Anyone that can find him. He disappears after laying waste to entire cities. Until he destroys the next one." The bartender replied. "The funny thing is that no one dies when he shows up. It's like we don't need God for a miracle."  
  
"He destroys whole cities yet no one dies? That is hard to believe." Beverly added.  
  
"Yep, and some say he is the one who drilled a hole in the fifth moon. But that is just foolish. He has been declared the first human act of God by the Bernadelli Insurance Company." He said as he cleaned a glass.  
  
"What did I miss ladies?" Riker said as he walked up.  
  
"We were just talking to this man about Vash the Stampede. He is wanted for sixty billion double dollars." Deanna responded.  
  
"That's quite a bit." Riker turned to the bartender. "Where's the closest hotel?"  
  
"Oh, it's about four or five buildings down from here. Has a big sign that says.err. something INN. You can't miss it." The bartender replied.  
  
"Thanks. Ladies, shall we go?" Riker turned to his companions.  
  
"Of course Will." Deanna responded. She stood up from her stool and began to leave.  
  
"Thanks for your time sir." Beverly said as she stood to leave.  
  
"Anytime. Have a good night you hear?" He shouted as they all walked out of the bar.  
  
As soon as they were out of earshot from everyone, Deanna Troi spoke up. "Will what did the Captain say?"  
  
"He said to continue our investigation. We are going to be staying here for the night. The Enterprise sent some money to us." He said as he pulled the money out of his pocket.  
  
"I guess we'll have them transport down a change of cloths." Beverly responded. "I could get to like wearing some of this regularly."  
  
"Speak for yourself," Riker began. "These things are damned hot in this sun all day. Ok here's the hotel." Riker opened the door and stepped in.  
  
"How many rooms?" The attendant asked as they all walked through the door.  
  
"Two." Riker said as he walked up to the counter. Then continuing in a low voice. "I want them as far from the other guests as possible." He showed the small wad of cash to the man.  
  
"Yes of course. The rooms are 20 double dollars a night." He responded handing Riker two keys.  
  
"Here, this should cover us until we leave." Riker handed him the full stack of bills.  
  
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Midnight had come. Knives felt that this was as good a time as any to open the outer doors.  
  
"Ok. Everyone get on the shuttle while me and Vash open the doors." He watched the three females get inside of the ship before turning to his brother.  
  
"Ok Vash. I'll start the power and you open the doors. It should only take a minute or two to open. Then we should rush to the ship and take off." He instructed making sure his brother understood the plan.  
  
"Okie Dokie. Let's get this show on the road." Ash replied as e ran towards the control panel for the outer doors.  
  
Knives worked his set of controls for a few seconds. "Power on!" He shouted across the bay. As he did so the fluorescent lighting came on.  
  
"Door opening now!" Vash shouted back as he keyed the sequence into the panel.  
  
The outer door of the ships hangar bay opened with loud creaks. As it did, sand poured in until they could see the clear night sky and one of the moons. It happened to be the moon that Vash had drilled a hole into with his Angel Arm. It reminded him of the great power that he had.  
  
Both Vash and Knives started running towards the shuttle. Upon entering, Vash sealed the door behind himself. He proceeded to the cockpit and sat next to his brother. The shuttles power was already on and the engines were warming up as Vash sat down. Knives took the controls and began to maneuver the ship out of the doors.  
  
"Are we really flying?" Came an exited shout from the back of the ship. "I'm the first little girl in space!" Rem finished triumphantly.  
  
"Rem calm down. Your scaring mommy." Meryl said to her daughter. She was terrified that they were actually going to fly this lost technology. She looked out of the window and watched the ship pass by slowly.  
  
"Relax Meryl." Milly began. "Vash and Knives are in control." Her bubbly attitude was always positive, despite what was going on.  
  
"That's what is worrying me Milly." Meryl responded. It's not that she didn't trust Vash, but he hadn't done this for over 130 years. Did he still remember how to fly this thing?  
  
Knives and Vash checked the panels in front of them.  
  
"If I'm right, this means that we are good to go." Vash said pointing to the green light that was on in front of him.  
  
"Ok. Here goes the engines to full power." Knives responded. The ship suddenly lurched forward as it shot out of the SEEDS ship and into the night sky.  
  
"By my guess, we should be in orbit in about 2 minutes." Vash said looking at the readouts.  
  
"How can you be sure?" Knives asked him.  
  
"I'm not. I haven't seen one of these for 136 years. You can't expect me to remember how to use them right off, now can you?" Vash responded in a higher pitched voice than normal.  
  
"Then that makes two of us. I hope this works." Knives called back. The reality of the situation is that they should have spent some time working with the ship before taking it into space. 'To late for that now.' He thought.  
  
The small ship sailed through the sky and the upper atmosphere like it hadn't been buried for over a hundred years. As they exited the atmosphere and entered space, both Vash and Knives were in awe at the wondrous sight before them. They set the ship on an autopilot course and headed back to the passenger compartment.  
  
Meryl, Milly and Rem were without words to describe what they were seeing. They could see their own planet from thousands of iles up. When Vash and Knives walked into the room, Meryl was the first one to choke out a few words.  
  
"Is this real?" Was all she could manage to say.  
  
"Yes it is honey. We set the shuttle on autopilot. We should enjoy the view before we start out." Vash said as he sat down next to his wife.  
  
"Knives, is this what it was like on the SEEDS ships?" Milly asked.  
  
Before Knives could respond, a warning sound entered the air. Vash and Knives both ran to the cockpit to find out what was happening. Meryl, Milly, and Rem followed them closely.  
  
As Knives sat down he could already tell what was wrong.  
  
"The ships engines are overheating. I can't do anything about it!" He shouted at the controls. "I'm sorry I brought you all on this ship. I thought we had a chance at a better life."  
  
"What do you mean?" Milly asked frantically.  
  
"He means that the engines are about to blow up and destroy the shuttle in the process." Vash answered for him. "Knives it isn't your fault. You couldn't have known."  
  
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"Sir there is a small ship entering orbit from the planets surface." Data informed Captain Picard. "It appears to have left one of the crashed ships."  
  
"I thought you said that they didn't have space travel capability?" Picard responded.  
  
"Apparently the sensors were unable to find this one operational craft." Data replied. He was normally never wrong about his scans.  
  
"Can they see us?" Picard asked. He began to grow concerned about being spotted.  
  
"Scans indicate that the ship is a small transport vessel of some sort. No sensor equipment aboard. Sir their engines have begun overheating. I estimate an explosion in approximately 30 seconds." Data reported.  
  
"Move into transport range. We need to render assistance to them. Prime Directive does not apply to a space faring species."  
  
"Moving into transport range." Worf reported from his station.  
  
"Mr. Worf, report to the transporter room for when our guests come aboard. I will be there shortly." Picard commanded.  
  
"Aye sir." The Klingon left his station and entered the turbo lift.  
  
******************************************************************  
  
Knives looked out the forward viewer. He was mad at himself because he sacrificed not only himself, but also Milly and his brothers entire family. He felt no better than he did after realizing the error of his ways against the humans. As he looked out the viewer, he noticed an object coming towards them.  
  
"Do you see that?" He asked the others standing in the cockpit.  
  
"Is that a ship?" Milly asked.  
  
"I have never seen anything like that before." Vash stated  
  
Suddenly a blue glow surrounded each one of them. They each noticed the small particles envelope their bodies. As Vash watched the shuttle cockpit suddenly disappeared and a large circular room with started to come into focus.  
  
'Is this what it's like to die?' Vash silently thought to himself.  
  
As the whirling blue particles stopped, he noticed two people and a control panel in the room.  
  
"Where the hell are we?!" Knives shouted to everyone.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
I told you that they would meet in this chapter. I think I will just leave you with this little bit of a cliffhanger as I leave. Please Review. Reviewers are so great. 


	3. Vash gets a Physical!

Due to a few threats, (And you know who you are) I have posted the next chapter of Vash meets the Enterprise. But first, a note to the reviewers:  
  
Ariamis Finchwing I: Thank you for being the first reviewer. I just can't believe no one has gone here before. This crossover I mean.  
  
kyee7k: Thanks for your vote of confidence and saying this is excellent.  
  
Magnet-Rose: I thought I might have put in OOC on most everyone. I'm glad that you reassured me that they were inside of reasonable parameters.  
  
Writegirl: The only way to blend any Star Trek/something else crossover, the all-powerful wormhole! It solves most problems.  
  
Night Hunter3: * bows accordingly * I promise to never leave the otaku/trekkies hanging like that again! * has fingers crossed behind back *  
  
Ocelot: Thanks for pointing a couple of things out to me. Watch for an updated chapter two. I will add a few lines to correct the humanoid/human life thingy. As for the distance traveled, ALL-POWERFUL WORMHOLE. They can do anything you want really. As for the Anime and real people thing, I guess either make Vash and company real or Picard and company Anime. Anime Worf hehehehehe.  
  
I. chrisoula winfield: Please don't die!!!! I would be depressed if I lost you. It will continue. That much I can promise. Picard probably won't find out exactly who is on his ship until at least chapter five. Until then the Humanoid Typhoon will be tied up eating doughnuts. (  
  
Now for a short summary of the chapter, Vash comes across as he truly is. A big baby. And then the whole group goes nuts with a replicator. Enjoy!  
  
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Vash looked around as his head began to clear. They were still standing in the same room, but he had never seen any of the equipment being used. As he looked at the two people he noticed before, he took note of what they were wearing. He started by looking at their feet. Noticing the black boots and black pants, he moved up seeing the black and gray shit with an emblem on the left breast. He then looked at their faces.  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Vash screamed. While one man looked perfectly normal, the other had large crests running up his forehead.  
  
The rest of Vash's small group looked to see what he was screaming about. Although not as outspoken, the rest of them backed up in fear of what they were seeing.  
  
"Calm down." Came the stern voice of the man with forehead bumps. "My name is Lieutenant Commander Worf. I am the head of Security aboard this ship and I will not tolerate this screaming."  
  
At that Vash immediately quieted down. Meryl was the first of them with anything intellectual to say.  
  
"Please, hand over your weapons." He commanded.  
  
"Alright." Vash reached down and pulled the silver revolver from its holster. Pressing the cylinder release the gun broke and the bullets popped out and he caught all six in the air. He handed the weapon to the Security Chief, which meant Sheriff to Vash. Knives mimicked Vash as he pulled his black revolver out. Work took both weapons and handed tem to the other man. He then looked towards Milly and Meryl.  
  
"What are you?" She asked as she stood behind Vash and shielded her daughter.  
  
"I am a Klingon." Worf replied as if they should know what that meant. "The Captain will be here momentarily."  
  
"Captain?" Knives responded. And if to answer his question the doors to their right slid apart and another man walked through. He wore the same clothes but he was a human being, and bald at that.  
  
"I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Welcome aboard the Enterprise." He said nonchalantly. "If you don't mind, we would like to take you all down to sickbay to make sure you are alright. Then, if you don't mind, I would like to ask you all some questions." His demeanor carried authority with it.  
  
"Sickbay? We are not sick Captain." Milly responded. Of all the people present, she seemed the most relaxed.  
  
"It is our medical facilities. We just want to make sure you're in good health." Picard added with a smile. He turned to the Klingon. "Mr. Worf, would you escort them down to sickbay? Notify me when they are finished."  
  
"Aye sir. Follow me." The Klingon commanded. He began to walk out towards the doors as they opened to let him through. He stopped in the middle of the entryway to wait for them.  
  
Vash was having trouble getting over the fact that he had finally seen, besides the plants and humans on Gunsmoke, an actual alien. Although peace- loving, his right hand began to inch towards the silver revolver at his side. 'I will protect my family.' Vash thought as he reluctantly followed the Klingon named Worf. Knives, Meryl, Milly, and Rem al followed closely behind Vash and Worf as they were led through the Enterprise.  
  
In sickbay, Vash was reluctant to let any doctor near him. Milly had been the first to be examined. The doctor used a gray-boxed object that opened up and a small cylinder, no bigger than his thumb, to examine her. Meryl was currently being examined while Vash and Knives were standing in bewilderment at the level of medical technology that this ship had.  
  
"Ok that's it," the woman, they found out was Nurse Alyssa Ogawa, set the small box down after closing it. "You're perfectly healthy for a woman who is seven weeks pregnant." She stated.  
  
"Pregnant? Who says she's pregnant?" Vash started to ask.  
  
"I was waiting for the right time to tell you Vash. I guess it would be now." Meryl responded. She knew she shouldn't have kept it from him for so long.  
  
"Mr. Knives is it? Please have a seat." Nurse Ogawa asked while Vash was sorting out that he now had another child on the way.  
  
"Alright," Knives responded. 'I hope it doesn't scare these humans when they find out I'm different.' He thought as he set on the bed where Meryl had once been.  
  
"This will only take a minute," Ogawa started as she ran the cylinder back and forth across his face and down his upper body. "That's odd." She said with a changing expression.  
  
"What is it?" Worf asked as he stepped forward.  
  
"According to this, this man is 136 years old. That isn't right for a human." Ogawa responded.  
  
'Might as well explain it.' Knives thought as he chose his words carefully. "Vash and I are a different species called Plants." 'If this goes how telling any other human does we are about to be feared and hated.'  
  
"It doesn't match anything I have heard of." Worf proclaimed.  
  
"I will just log it as a new species. We never get the chance to have two specimens to study, let alone question." Ogawa responded. "You're done, but I would like to run some more tests if you don't mind."  
  
"Huh?" Knives' jaw dropped when he seen their response to him proclaiming his difference. Regaining his composure he answered her question. "What do they involve?"  
  
"Just a blood and tissue sample, a physical, and a few other tests. Nothing out of the ordinary." Ogawa responded. "Mr. Vash, your turn."  
  
"What? Me? Knives is my twin, so just copy his over for mine." Vash began backing away from the nurse.  
  
"I have to make a separate log for each of you." Ogawa informed him.  
  
"You baby. The rest of the 'adults' did it. Set an example for your daughter, Broom head." Meryl added clenching her fist.  
  
"Ok. Ok. I'll do it." Vash agreed knowing that he was about to receive a hit to the head from his 'loving' wife.  
  
"This won't hurt at all. I promise." Ogawa stated. As she progressed through the scan, her face changed expression as she read the readout. "What has happened to you? I'm reading heavy scar tissue, multiple metal implants, and a prosthetic left arm with a weapon inside."  
  
The last part made Worf reach to his belt and pull a small black tube that was bent in the center out.  
  
"I won't hurt anybody. I don't like pain. Besides, I am obviously at a disadvantage." Vash started trying to keep the Klingon from collecting on the 'dead' part of his bounty.  
  
"I told you not to have it put back on." Meryl reprimanded.  
  
"It kept me alive a few times. Besides, it felt odd not having it there." Vash replied with one of his smiles.  
  
"I'd like you to come in with your brother, Mr. Vash. I haven't seen a prosthetic arm like this before." Ogawa asked. She was obviously curious about Vash's left arm. "Next is you, Miss." she trailed off at the loss of Rem's name.  
  
"Rem!" The child responded happily.  
  
"Ok, Rem, Just sit right here. I'm going to do the same thing as I did to your parents. Ok." Ogawa said as she pulled the small cylinder up.  
  
Rem turned toward her mother. "It's ok sweetie. She just wants to make sure that you're Ok." Meryl responded to her nervous child. 'I was just as nervous as she is.' Meryl thought as Nurse Ogawa ran the cylinder across Rem's body.  
  
"Interesting. She is a cross between the Plants and human. It's remarkable. She is quite an extraordinary little girl." Ogawa added with amusement. "Ok Rem, I'm done. You can jump down now."  
  
Rem hopped off of the bed and stepped over to stand by her mother.  
  
"I'm done here Mr. Worf. They are all as healthy as I can tell." Ogawa added as she turned to go into the medical office.  
  
Worf tapped the emblem on his chest. "Worf to bridge. We are finished in Sickbay." He spoke to apparently no one.  
  
Vash, Knives, Meryl, Milly, and Rem all jumped when Picard's voice came out of nowhere. "Very good. Show them to guest quarters. I will meet them there. Picard out."  
  
Worf turned to the small, frightened group. "Please follow me." He started out of the doors with all of them in tow.  
  
********************************************************************  
  
After looking over the medical logs, Picard started walking towards the guest quarters on deck 5. As he approached the door, he quickly remembered how many times he had initiated first contact with other people. He reached down ad touched the pad by the door to signal his arrival, forgetting that his guests were not accustomed to this level of technology.  
  
Picard could here the voices from the other side of the door. Although muffled, he could tell what they were saying.  
  
"What the hell is that?" One yelled. It seemed high pitched, but not a feminine voice.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe it's a communication thing, like on the SEEDS ship." A different male voice responded.  
  
At that, Picard walked into the door and it slid open. He noticed the two men standing, the one with spiked up blonde hair was holding his head in what appeared to be a panic attack. The shorter woman with black hair noticed him first and stood up.  
  
"Captain, umm." She started.  
  
"Jean-Luc Picard," He offered.  
  
"Right, I am Meryl Stryfe," She began then pointing at each of the people with her. "This is Milly Thompson, my daughter Rem, my husband Vash, and his brother Knives."  
  
"Pleased to meet you all." Picard responded.  
  
"Captain," Knives began. "Thank you for saving us."  
  
"I'm just glad we were in the neighborhood. Tell me," Picard thought it was time to get down to business. "How may of your crashed ships still function?"  
  
"None of them." Vash answered.  
  
"I see. Where did the shuttle come from then?"  
  
"I found it in a hangar bay on a ship outside of January. I thought it was still capable of space flight." Knives explained.  
  
"Then the rest of your people do not have space travel abilities?" Picard asked again.  
  
"We did? But then the ships crashed into the planet 135 years ago. The humans scrapped them to make shelters and started using the Plants to survive. Knives and myself are the only one's left from the original crash survivors." Vash started trying to cover the fact that Knives was responsible for it.  
  
"Were those ships warp capable?" Picard asked.  
  
"Huh? What is warp capable? The ships were powered by Plants." Knives responded. He was confused at the apparent lack of knowledge about the Plants. "Doesn't your ship use them?"  
  
It was Picard's turn to be confused. "What type of plant are you talking about? We use fusion plants and a warp core."  
  
"Fusion Plants? Warp core?" Meryl started. She was even more confused than Vash and Captain Picard.  
  
"I see that we have much to discuss. I would like you all to rest. You have been through a traumatic set of events. I will meet with you all tomorrow in the briefing room." Picard stood up straightening his uniform. "Did Mr. Worf explain the basic functions in the room?"  
  
"Yes, but I do have a question." Vash started. Meryl knew full well what he was going to ask.  
  
"Yes anything," Picard replied.  
  
"How many doughnuts can the replicator make?" Vash put his hands together and slightly hunched over.  
  
"I don't know. I suppose as many as you could ever want. Why?" Picard asked trying to grasp why this man was asking about doughnuts at a time like this.  
  
Vash's eyes went wide and started to tear up. He had never heard such good news in his entire life.  
  
"I'll keep him reasonable Captain." Meryl said as she walked to her husband. "We will see you tomorrow." She finished as she turned her back to him facing her husband.  
  
"I will send a security officer down to escort you all there." With that, Picard turned towards the door and walked through it. As it closed behind him, Meryl hit Vash solidly in the head.  
  
"Oww. What was that for?" Vash started. He was so entranced with the thought of limitless doughnuts that he didn't comprehend why his wife would hit him.  
  
"You are not going to drain this ship of its supply of doughnuts!" She yelled at him. She walked over to the small outlet that Worf had called the replicator. Remember the instructions, she gave it a try. "Coffee." She said.  
  
"Specify flavor, temperature and additives." The female voice asked. Meryl nearly jumped out of her skin when it talked to her. 'It was bad enough to talk to it, but when it asked me a question,' she began to think frantically. After regaining her composure, she stepped back towards it. "Regular, hot coffee with a bowl of sugar on the side." 'I hope that was enough.' She thought as she finished her statement.  
  
The small alcove started to glow softly and a cup, saucer, and small bowl suddenly appeared. Being cautious, Meryl reached in and grabbed the saucer to bring the cup out along with the bowl setting them on the table in the middle of their room.  
  
The rest of her company stared wide-eyed as she carefully took a sip of the coffee. After that, she licked her finger and stuck it into the bowl coating it with sugar. She tasted it and began to smile.  
  
"What does it taste like?" Rem asked. Apparently she was the only one who could speak.  
  
"It tastes perfect! The coffee and the sugar!" Meryl picked up the small spoon that was in the sugar bowl and scooped some into her coffee. After stirring the sugar in, she tasted the coffee again. "It tastes like it was fresh brewed! I can't believe it!"  
  
Milly and Vash both darted over to the replicator. Vash won the little race and got to order first. "I want a dozen, double chocolate frosted, chocolate doughnuts with rainbow sprinkles and raspberry jelly filled!" He shouted. After his order appeared, he immediately stuffed a whole doughnut into his mouth, swallowing it after chewing for just a few seconds. He grabbed the plate and headed over to the table where Meryl was. "It works Beautifully! I could live in here!" He exclaimed.  
  
Milly looked at the alcove and hoped it would do the same for her. "Umm, I want pudding." She asked timidly. She was still not completely comfortable with it.  
  
"What flavor?" The computer voice called back. Although not as shocking as with Meryl, it still made her jump a bit.  
  
"What flavors are there?" She asked. She didn't expect it to respond to her.  
  
"Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, banana, ." The computer started. With each flavor, Milly's eyes became bigger and brighter until she couldn't smile any wider. She restrained herself from ordering all of them.  
  
"Give me three vanillas and three chocolates." She responded. The pudding appeared in bowls that were much larger than she expected. Gathering them all up she bounced over to the table and set them down.  
  
Rem had sat down next to her father and started eating his doughnuts. Knives just looked at his brother and Milly. "I'm not hungry right now." He walked over to the small couch and sat down.  
  
"I could get used to this life," Meryl said as each of them enjoyed their little meal.  
  
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On Gunsmoke, Riker had settled into the small room. 'For an Old west setting, this room is nice.' He thought as he gazed at the various objects in his room. He had the Enterprise beam down a few changes of cloths. He had removed the native attire and put on his uniform pants and red undershirt to be more comfortable. He reached down and tapped the communicator that was laying on the nightstand.  
  
"Riker to Enterprise." He spoke into the object.  
  
"This is Enterprise, Data here sir." Came the response. Riker had turned the volume down on the unit so as to keep his conversations private.  
  
"Data, I want you to beam down some replicated weapons that would be indigenous here. I've noticed that most of the locals carry some form of weapon."  
  
"Aye sir. Any specifics?"  
  
"Send down instructions too. I'm sure that they will be museum pieces." Riker added with sarcasm lining his voice.  
  
"Do you want us to take them from a museum sir?" Data asked.  
  
"What?" Riker was confused at the last question.  
  
"You said that museum pieces would be better. Would you like them from a museum?" Data asked again.  
  
"It was a figure of speech Data. I was referring to the antiquity of any weapon these people use." Riker was still amazed that Data still did not grasp most jokes.  
  
"So it was a joke sir?"  
  
"Yes Data. It was a joke." Riker replied while rolling his eyes.  
  
"Ah. We will be beaming the 'museum pieces' down momentarily." His accent on the words made Riker laugh at his friends attempt at humor.  
  
Blue light began circling around. Riker watched the form of a Smith and Wesson revolver take shape in front of him. It had a wood grip and black metal. The caliber was .44 Magnum and the barrel was eight inches long.  
  
"How about some bullets Mr. Data?" Riker had noticed that only the gun was beamed down.  
  
"My error sir." Data replied. The next instant, a box of .44 Magnum bullets appeared on the nightstand next to the revolver.  
  
"Thank you Data. I will report back when we have some more information. Riker out." Riker turned his attention to the firearm that he now had.  
  
"This is nothing like a hand phaser." Riker mumbled as he fumbled with the grip. He lifted the weapon and tried to aim it like he would any phaser. "This thing is damned heavy." He brought his other hand up to steady the weapon. He was aiming at the door. Deanna Troi and Beverly Crusher chose that moment to walk into Riker's room.  
  
"Will," Deanna began. "What are you doing pointing that at us?" Riker had immediately set the revolver on the nightstand and hit himself in the head.  
  
"Just getting a feel for it. Didn't want to be thought suspicious by the locals for not having a weapon." He tried to recover. "Going for low impact. Remember?" He stood up and walked towards them. He noticed they had both changed into long pants and long sleeve button up shirts. "I liked you better in a dress."  
  
"Well we didn't like the heat." Beverly responded as she sat down. "Do you really think we will need that?" She asked referring to the weapon.  
  
"I hope not. But it fills out the outfit some more." Riker said as he sat down. "What have you found out?"  
  
"Mostly people just spread rumors," Deanna began. "Most of them have to do with a guy named Vash the Stampede."  
  
"We also found this," Beverly added, throwing a wanted poster on the bed by Riker.  
  
"Wanted dead or alive. Vash the Stampede. Sixty billion double dollars. Wears a long red coat, has spiked blond hair and uses a silver gun. Wanted for murder and class-g property damage. What good does this do us?" Riker finished as he set the poster down.  
  
"When speaking to the population, I sense a great deal of nervousness when they speak about him. A few people have called him the devil's helper and say he is responsible for destroying two cities with populations well into the millions." She remembered that they had already talked about this rumor. "They all fear him."  
  
"That affects us how? If the Enterprise picks up energy readings big enough to destroy a city, we will be beamed out." Riker said brushing off the rumors. "I have a better question." Deanna and Beverly both looked at him waiting. "This planet has no oceans and little above ground water right?"  
  
"Right. Where are you going with this?" Beverly asked.  
  
"Then where do they get salmon for their salmon sandwiches?" Riker smiled.  
  
"What does that have to do with anything?" Deanna asked.  
  
"I asked you the same thing about Vash the Stampede." Riker replied feeling that he had proved his point.  
  
"Let's get some rest. Tomorrow is another day." Beverly said as she stood up to leave.  
  
"Right. I'll give the Captain a full report tomorrow night." Riker said as he turned his body putting his feet on the bed.  
  
"Good night then." Deanna spoke as she stood and walked out the door with Beverly over to their room.  
  
After they closed the door, Riker began thinking to himself. 'Vash the Stampede, huh? No one person can cause that much destruction without some kind of aid.'  
  
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Riker doesn't know the half of it! I wonder what he would think if he knew the legendary outlaw was aboard the Enterprise going nuts with the replicator. Please review. Please, please, please, please, please! 


	4. Explanations and New Problems

Hello. I have finally written the next chapter of this fic. Sorry about the delay. School started this week and I was delivering phonebooks, it was a mess. Anyway please enjoy. I know that in a previous chapter I said that Picard would not know who was aboard until chapter five but I changed that idea. It only seemed logical when I thought about it. The next chapter will definitely deal with the huge technological difference. Expect those experiences to be funny. Just wait for the holodeck! Read and review. It helps me to write better.  
  
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Vash awoke to the sound of the door chime. He opened his eyes and noticed that he had fallen asleep on the couch. As he lifted his head, he noticed his wife and daughter sleeping on the bed. He also noticed that this was the first time, since the bounty was placed on his head, that he had felt safe while he was sleeping. There was something about this...  
  
His thoughts trailed off as the door chime sounded again and he remembered why he woke up in the first place.  
  
"Come in." He called to the door. After a few visitors, one had explained the customs that they follow for entering rooms. After that, he understood how to let people in the door before they came barging in.  
  
A man with a yellow shirt underneath the black and gray uniform entered the room. Vash noticed his one gold button and figured it was a low ranking officer. Despite his reputation for being an idiot, he was actually intelligent. Vash also noticed the weapon that was called a 'phaser' at his side and came to the conclusion that he was security.  
  
"The Captain sent me to escort you to the Briefing Room." He said.  
  
"Ok." Vash started as he looked at the sleeping forms of his family. "Let them sleep. Let's go get Knives."  
  
"Follow me." The security man said as he walked out of the door. One door down was where Knives and Milly were staying. As the officer reached to activate the control panel, Knives walked out.  
  
"I'm ready to go." Knives responded to the unspoken question.  
  
"Huh? Why are you so alert?" Vash asked. He was still drowsy from just waking up.  
  
"One, I caught your thoughts when security was speaking to you. Two, I remembered what time the Captain wanted to meet us and asked the computer to alert me an hour before."  
  
"How did you know how to work the computer?" Vash asked. He still wasn't conscious enough to add anything up.  
  
"I asked about the time measurement and how to get the computer to tell me when it was. You idiot." Knives reprimanded. He thought that his brother would have gained at least some common sense in the last 136 years.  
  
"If you're done," the security officer began. He was used to passengers arguing in the corridors. "Follow me, please." He walked towards the turbo lift.  
  
Upon entering the briefing room, Vash and Knives were amazed at the elegance of it. Not even the finest hotels on Gunsmoke were this nice. The first noticeable item was the long polished black table with padded chairs around it. Vash followed the table to its end and seen a display of some schematic that resembled the ship they were on. Then it suddenly changed to something else. While Vash was admiring the viewer, Knives focused his sight on the glory of the windows. The view he had had never taken his breath away until now. The curve of the planets surface along with two of the five moons visible. Then he recognized one moon. It was the fifth moon with the hole that Vash had drilled into it.  
  
At the table there were four people. Vash recognized the one at the head of the table as Picard. To his left was Worf. The one to the Captain's right was a dark skinned man that wore yellow underneath the black and gray. He looked rather normal, but Vash seen something that wasn't right in his eyes. The next man also wore yellow underneath the black and gray and his skin was pale. Vash had never seen skin that color before. Vash then looked into his eyes. Vash immediately recoiled back when he seen that they were gold in color.  
  
"Gold eyes." Vash muttered as he took another step backwards. Knives realized his brother's distress and looked to see what he was talking about. Vash had only known one person with gold colored eyes.  
  
"That is because I am an Android." He responded.  
  
"Android?" Knives questioned as his brother started to relax again. "What is an Android?"  
  
Before the man could respond, Picard spoke up. "Vash, Knives please have a seat. We will get to your questions in a moment. Geordie, continue."  
  
As Vash ad Knives sat down at the end of the table farthest from Picard, the dark skinned man started speaking.  
  
"It's like I was saying before Captain. We should have full power in another four hours at tops. Most of the damage from the wormhole was minimal, but the overloads knocked out the power inverters. We also had one plasma conduit develop a crack. That wormhole did us a number." He finished.  
  
"What damage? What wormhole? What is going on?" Vash and Knives spoke in unison.  
  
"This is Commander LaForge, our chief engineer." Picard began. "This is Commander Data and Lieutenant Commander Worf, whom you already know. We have a few questions for you."  
  
"Can we ask a few also?" Vash asked innocently.  
  
"Yes of course. But we would like to have a basic grasp of how you came to land on that planet." Picard responded.  
  
"Ok. Ask away." Knives spoke.  
  
"What kind of propulsion did your ships have and how were they powered?" LaForge asked.  
  
Vash and Knives looked at each other. "We don't know what propulsion they used, but the Plants are what powered them." Vash responded.  
  
"You have referred to yourselves as 'Plants.' Are you saying that sentient life powered your ships?" Picard asked.  
  
"Yes Captain. The Plants choose to serve the humans by giving them a means of survival." Knives responded. He had discovered the same information years ago after his fight with Vash. He wished he had learned it sooner.  
  
"How did the humans come to crash on this planet?" Data asked.  
  
Knives didn't want to answer.  
  
"I think you should explain this one." Vash spoke. E knew that the memory would hurt his brother, but they couldn't hide things from these people. The whole table stared at Knives waiting for a response.  
  
"It was my fault." He finally admitted. And went on to explain the events of that day and the following years.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Meryl woke up to find her daughter missing from her arms. At first she believed she was in her own house and had had an elaborate dream about space flight and other people. All she could remember was that her daughter was in her arms when she fell asleep. As she closed her eyes to drift back into her dream, she glanced at where her nightstand would have been to check the time.  
  
She bolted up in the bed. She was now fully awake and starting to panic because she was not where she thought she was. The room was streamlined and elegant. More elegant than any house or hotel se had ever been in. More elegant than even Mr. Cliffs mansion. As she searched the room for her missing daughter, she began to remember the events of the last few days. Se found her daughter sitting in front of the thing that was called a replicator. At that thought, she then remembered how great it was and began to relax. They were safe in this place. Something that neither her nor Vash had experienced since meeting all those years ago.  
  
"Rem where's your father?" Meryl asked finding her voice again.  
  
"Aunt Milly said that they went to see the Captain." The girl responded still staring at the replicator.  
  
"Then where's Milly?" Meryl asked. She wasn't quite sure how to take that Vash was talking to the Captain.  
  
"She said she would be right back. She went to get something from her room." Rem was still fixated on the replicator.  
  
Meryl finally took the hint Rem was leaving. "Are you hungry honey?" It was a stupid question for Vash's child, but she asked it anyway.  
  
"Can I have doughnuts?" Rem jumped up from the floor and clasped her hands together.  
  
"Let's eat something that's better for you." Meryl stated as she walked up to the replicator.  
  
"Now how do I work this again?" Meryl spoke as she tried to remember her instructions.  
  
"Specify desired food." The computer voice came back. It once again made Meryl jump out of her skin. At that moment, Milly walked in carrying a bowl of pudding.  
  
"What's the matter?" Milly asked as she watched her friend recover.  
  
"The thing told me how to use it!" Meryl said after taking a few deep breaths. "I guess I'm not used to it speaking yet." She regained her composure and walked back towards the alcove of the replicator.  
  
"What am I gonna have for breakfast Mommy?" Rem started pleading. She had been waiting for her mother to get up to get her something to eat.  
  
"What would be a healthy breakfast for a girl that looks ten years old?" Meryl spoke out loud as she tried to think of something. "I know." She turned to face the computer console. "Two pancakes, two scrambled eggs, two strips of bacon, and a glass of orange juice." He stepped back and waited for the items to finish materializing. She handed the plate and glass to her daughter, who sat at the table and began eating.  
  
"What do you think Knives and Vash are doing?" Milly asked.  
  
"I don't know." Meryl responded.  
  
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Picard and the others took the news of the last 136 years on Gunsmoke rather well. Knives and Vash had explained how Knives tried to kill off all of the humans, explained the course of 100 years before the destruction of July, the destruction of July, the subsequent bounty on Vash, the events leading up to the destruction of Augusta, the destruction of Augusta, the fall of Sky City, the fight between the two, and the last five years of love and peace between Vash and Knives. All of the people at the table were deep in thought. Vash and Knives were thinking about how they would escape the ship, and the others were placing all of the pieces together.  
  
Picard broke the silence. "How were you able to destroy two full cities without killing a single soul?" Picard was amazed that such a feat was possible.  
  
Vash was in shock. He had expected Worf to arrest them both and proceed to collecting the bounty. Picard's question started him. "Why do you want to know how I destroyed the cities?"  
  
"I'll explain it." Knives spoke up. They apparently had a lot of luck right now. He wasn't going to end that anytime soon. "It is what we have called the 'angel arm.' Originally I developed the weapon for us to kill off the humans. In the end, it only caused destruction not death. In the destruction of July, Vash shot me at point blank with it."  
  
"And you can use this weapon at will?" Picard asked. He began to look at this from a different point of view.  
  
"In a sense yes." Knives answered. "But we need the revolvers that were confiscated from us. Those contain parts that a Plant gave me to create immense power. I then was able to focus it into a beam. When fired, the end of the barrel produces a large beam and a spherical blast area. When the beam connects to anything, it creates a second sphere of destruction. As in the instance that involved Augusta and the fifth moon."  
  
"I see." Picard began again. "Since we have no jurisdiction over your planet we cannot try you for any crime. However, in light of your explanations, we now have an explanation of human presence in this galaxy."  
  
Vash nearly passed out. Knives almost fell out of his chair. Neither of them could believe what had just happened.  
  
"Now you have questions for us. Am I correct?" Picard spoke once again.  
  
Vash came out of his state of shock and looked back at Picard. This was a man that didn't judge them for being different, didn't want the bounty, and completely disregarded the fact that he and his brother had caused so much destruction. Ash thought he was dreaming.  
  
Knives regained enough composure to respond to Picard. "Where did you come from?"  
  
"We came from the other side of a stable wormhole. However, due to its unique features, we were unprepared for what it would cause." Data responded.  
  
"That just went over my head. What is a wormhole?" Vash asked.  
  
"A wormhole is a special anomaly that transports ships across great distances of space. In this case, we have traveled over 700,000 light years." Data answered again.  
  
"700,000 light years!" Vash responded with wide eyes. "That would have taken the SEEDS ships over a million years to cross! How fast does this ship go without a wormhole?"  
  
"This ship can attain a maximum velocity of warp 9.99." Data answered yet again.  
  
"Warp 9.99? How fast is that?" Knives asked.  
  
"Its around 7,000 times the speed of light depending on the conditions in space." LaForge answered. He didn't want Data to have all of the fun.  
  
Vash and Knives were struck silent. They were having trouble grasping what amount of technology this ship had.  
  
"Can we tour the ship?" Vash started. "I want to see all of the technology you have and how it works." Knives looked at Vash.  
  
'They are probably going to say no. You shouldn't have asked.' He reprimanded mentally.  
  
'Its worth a shot I think Knives.' Vash responded over the link.  
  
"Of course. Mr. Data, would you mind escorting them around?" Picard stated.  
  
Vash and knives ended their metal badgering when Picard spoke. Vash hadn't expected them to allow a tour.  
  
"I would be honored sir." Data spoke. "Where would you like to begin?" He asked the two confused Plants.  
  
"Lets go get Milly, Meryl and Rem. They will want to see this too." Knives said as they all stood up.  
  
"Thank you for your time. If you'll excuse me, I have other business to attend." Picard said as he left the room.  
  
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Riker was fed up with this planet. The away team had learned nothing useful from the local population. He was about to report to the Captain. What he was going to report, he didn't know.  
  
"Will," Deanna called as she walked up to him in the hotel lobby. Beverly was right behind her. "We have only found that the energy source for the cities is some type of power plant. Everyone just calls them Plants though."  
  
"It goes with everything else." Riker was slightly annoyed. "I'm going to report that the general population has no idea of their current situation, or any other worlds. It is a solid class one society."  
  
"Ok. Lets go get something to eat before beaming up." Beverly began. "The salmon sandwiches are really good."  
  
"I'll tell the desk that we are checking out." Riker added. "I'll also inform the Enterprise to beam up the items in our rooms." Riker stood and walked towards the desk.  
  
"Deanna, let's go so we can beat the crowd." Beverly insisted.  
  
"I have never seen you act this way before. All over a sandwich?" Deanna asked.  
  
"It is like the same thing with you and chocolate." Beverly replied referring to the councilors love of the sweet.  
  
As they headed out of the door, Riker turned from making his arrangements with the desk and headed up the stairs. He entered his room for the last time and activated his communications link.  
  
"Riker to Enterprise. Beam up all of the designated items at previously mentioned coordinates. Away team will beam up within the hour. Riker out." As he waited, the entire room was filled with glowing blue particles. The cloths, a few local items, and some soil and water samples were all transported back to the Enterprise.  
  
'After living in this environment, I'm going to be glad to be back on the Enterprise.' He thought. His happy thoughts of returning home were interrupted by a sound that he had rarely heard. The sharp clap and echo of a small explosion ringing through the walls and his ears gave him a slight chill. The sound repeated itself and he then recognized it. Gunfire. He ran down the stairs and out of the front door of the hotel. He turned in the direction of the noise and seen a vehicle parked in front of the building that was the local bank. His eyes darted from one detail to the next until he found what he was looking for.  
  
Deanna and Beverly had been walking towards the sandwich shop when five men in a vehicle pulled up next to the bank. As they walked by the front doors, the men jumped from the vehicle grabbing them both and proceeded to shoot into the air. They had become hostages in a bank robbery.  
  
Riker instinctively reached down to his side for his phaser that he normally had. When the smooth contours did not meet his hand he panicked.  
  
"That was stupid." He remarked to himself. He remembered that his phaser was among the objects he had beamed up to the ship earlier. "What am I going to do?" ***********************************************************************  
  
I'm gonna get hurt cause that is where I want to leave you all hanging today. I have found that if I leave it as a bit of a cliffhanger that you will all come back for the next chapter. Anyway, please review. 


	5. Vash is back to his old ways!

OK here is the next chapter of this fic. Sorry for the delay in updating. School has been horrible and my procrastination has extended into my fanfics. We are beginning to close the gap on *begins shedding tears* on the end of this fic. But if you all still love it, I will write a sequel. Now on to the newest chapter. But first a quick note to the reviewers.  
  
Luis: Thanks for thinking this is so interesting. I hope I can keep it up. Vash will have many run-ins with technology in the next couple of chapters. As for Geordie's Visor, in the later movies he received ocular implants on his eyes so he could eliminate the visor.  
  
Suzuka Blade: Thanks for the review. I'm not sure exactly what you said but thanks for it.  
  
Raditz: I finally updated it. Please don't dig my heart out with a rusty spoon or axe murder me and cook me into scones......mmmmmmm scones. And yes it is a shame that legato is dead and I can't use him. Perhaps in a different crossover.  
  
l. chrisoula winfield: If I knew which cliff you were hanging off of I would at least send down a better branch. Anyway, I really appreciate your reviews.  
  
Magnet-Rose: Why does everyone want to cause me bodily harm? I tried to get this chapter up quickly. Thanks for your review.  
  
A big thanks to all of you again. If it hadn't been for you guys, this would have died off and not even I would know how it would end.  
  
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Riker was contemplating on possible answers when a local began firing into the bank. As several shots were fired into the bank, Riker only wondered about who was being hit. When a spray of bullets came from the bank, He jumped behind a concrete post. He looked from out from his new position to assess the situation again.  
  
"You fire any more into this bank and we are going to kill the two pretty ladies here!" A rough and husky voice called back.  
  
Riker froze. He knew the Deanna and Beverly were in the bank, but he could no longer do anything. 'If only I had a phaser.' He thought frantically. Riker turned his back towards the bank and reached to hit his com-badge.  
  
"Riker to Enterprise. We have a problem."  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
"Is this a geo plant?" Meryl asked as she leaned down to feel the grass. The first stop on the tour was a place that Data, the android, called the holodeck. "How do you get it to grow in this room?" Meryl was fixated on the grass and the trees. She had not bothered to actually look up.  
  
Vash was amazed. He had not seen something like this since the recreation room on the SEEDS ship. Even then he could tell where the walls were. But not in this 'holodeck'. Vash kneeled down next to his wife to feel the grass.  
  
"These are real plants." Vash turned his attention to Data. "How is this possible? I can even feel a breeze and the sun's rays falling down. How?"  
  
Rem had never before seen a place like this. Her knowledge only consisted of the dry dessert and the harsh winds that were always there. She ran over to the small creek and dipped her hand into the cool water.  
  
"Mommy, look!" She exclaimed with childhood excitement.  
  
Knives was as curious as his brother and so asked Data the same question to get an answer. "How does this work?"  
  
"The holodeck uses force fields and holo-matter to simulate any environment that is programmed into it. In a sense, we can generate any environment that one could imagine." Data responded. His explanation left the guests confused about how it worked.  
  
"Any type of environment?" Vash asked. He was skeptical about that. The SEEDS ship only had one environment in the recreation room.  
  
"Yes. Would you like to see another?" Data asked. He felt a surge of pride come from his emotion chip. He did not understand why and so would ask Captain Picard later.  
  
"Sure. Do we have to leave?" Knives asked. He noticed that Meryl and Milly had taken interest in their conversation.  
  
"Can we see a planet that is made from pudding?" Milly shouted. Her eyes gleamed as she said the word.  
  
"Milly," Knives looked at her. "Why do you always think about pudding?"  
  
"Because since we got here, I have had over twenty different flavors." She smiled in return. Knives could not believe how closely she acted to his brother.  
  
"The computer has 365 different flavors of pudding." Data offered. He did not understand why her taste for pudding was so great. Perhaps he would ask Councilor Troi upon her return.  
  
Milly's eyes went wider as she heard the good news. Knives recognized what was happening and began to think about a quick solution. Or, she and Vash would be constantly ordering from the replicator. He felt a subject change would do it.  
  
"Can you show us a snow covered environment?" He asked. Knives remembered the history of Earth and that there was snow towards the north and south poles. He wanted to see it.  
  
"Of course. Computer, The Swiss Alps on a snowy day." Data called out.  
  
Suddenly the lush grass and forest had disappeared. In its place, a land that looked as barren as Gunsmoke was spread before them. However, there was no sand. It was all white and soft. Vash noticed his boots sinking into the material as he stood there. A snowflake drifted down and landed on the tip of his nose.  
  
"This is beautiful!" Milly exclaimed as her mind was taken from pudding. "We never left the last room."  
  
As each of them stood taking in the new sights, Rem reached down and picked up a handful of snow. She rolled it between her hands to create a lopsided ball. Her eyes began to shine brighter as she threw it at her father. The snow splattered across his chest as he recoiled from the soft blow.  
  
"What was that for?" Vash questioned. He then recalled from deep within his memory of how children used to play in the snow. "Why you!" He reached his own hands down to return to his daughter as another one hit him in the side of the head. As Vash fell over, he looked up to se if Rem had hit him again. To his surprise, Meryl was the one who threw it.  
  
"Good shot mommy!" Rem shouted. Her mother had joined her to make him suffer. As Vash regained himself, he noticed Knives picking up some snow and throwing it at Milly. Milly quickly joined Rem and Meryl in pelting Vash and Knives with snowballs.  
  
Data watched on in amusement. He had never witnessed a snowball fight before and was content to watch this one unfold.  
  
"Bridge to Data!" Came Picard's voice over the ships intercom. The impromptu snowball fight had suddenly stopped.  
  
"Data here sir." He responded. The general tone was felt amongst everyone present.  
  
"Bring our guests to the bridge. The away team has encountered a problem."  
  
"Aye sir. We are on our way." Data turned to the others. "Computer, end program. Please follow me." He turned as the snowy mountains disappeared leaving a black and yellow grid behind.  
  
The group of Gunsmoke residents was startled at the sudden disappearance of their playground. However, the sense of sudden urgency brought them all down to earth as they followed Data out of the doors.  
  
********************************************************************  
  
Vash had expected the command center of this ship to resemble the one on the SEEDS ship. In a sense, it did. There was a central chair where Captain Picard was sitting. There were two chairs on either side of it, all flanked by a set of controls. In front of the chairs, there were two stations that resembled the ones that Rowan and Mary were always at.  
  
Knives lowered his head as the same memory came back to him. He felt the chilling reminder of the life he had originally tried to live.  
  
"Mr. Data, the away team has encountered a problem. I want you to scan the area." Picard said as he heard data heading for is station. "Doctor Crusher and Councilor Troi were captured by some bank robbers."  
  
Vash and Knives jerked their heads at those words. Between the two of them, they had stopped many bank robbers. Vash wanted to do something to help. Meryl stepped forward and grabbed his hand as she took in the same sights. He gripped her small hand back to give her some support.  
  
After Data sat down, his hands moved across his station. After a few seconds, he turned towards Picard.  
  
"They are being held by four men along with twenty three other hostages. Commander Riker is approximately twenty-five meters from their current location."  
  
"Damn," Picard started. "We can't just beam them out."  
  
"We could use the ships phasers on a low setting to stun everyone in the area." Worf offered. "We could then beam them out."  
  
"You can't do that!" Vash shouted out.  
  
"We are gathering our options to extract our people without revealing ourselves to the local population." Picard answered. "This is only a last resort."  
  
"Then send me down there." Vash returned. Everyone on the bridge turned his or her head towards him. "I've dealt with this before."  
  
"Vash," Meryl started. "You said you wanted to get away from that life. Get away from being Vash the Stampede."  
  
"They need help." Vash turned to her with his emerald eyes. "I'll be fine."  
  
"Sir it would be a better alternative to have him solve this problem." Data added. "According to reports, the locals already fear him."  
  
"I'll send you down." Picard stated after a moment of thought. "The ships phasers on stun will be the backup plan."  
  
"I won't fail captain." Vash started. "I just need to get a few things before I go."  
  
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Riker began staring at the sign of the bank. It had been an hour since the robbers had first taken Deanna and Beverly hostage. 'They should be done by now.' Riker thought. He had considered all of his options and was able to use none of them.  
  
The sound of footsteps caught Riker's attention and he turned his head to face the direction of the noise. He noticed a person, tall and clad in red, approaching him. As he drew closer, Riker was able to identify more of his features. Deep yellow tinted circular glasses covered his eyes. His hair was spiked upward and blond. The red Riker had seen, turned out to be a coat that extended from his neck down to his feet. Only one sleeve was present, the other revealing a black, leather clad arm that had buckles and an elbow pad. Riker could not tell who this man was. Although he had a certain familiarity about him, Riker just could not place his face. He began to walk towards the bank. As he approached the entrance, Riker could see to thin wires extending from his ears to somewhere in his coat.  
  
Then Riker froze. The man he had been watching was entering the bank. A burst of gunfire was heard as the wind blew up dust. When it all cleared, Riker thought he would see the body of the red-clad man on the ground.  
  
"Who do you think you are?" An angry voice shouted from inside.  
  
The new man lifted his hand and took the plugs out of his ears and raised his sunglasses.  
  
"Isn't the bank open today?" He asked. Riker looked on wondering if he could actually be that stupid.  
  
"Get out of here!" The same voice shouted. Another gunshot was heard.  
  
"That's too bad. I have sixty billion double dollars to deposit too." The man began turning away.  
  
"Hold it..." That voice began to say. The red-clad man knocking him unconscious with the butt of his silver revolver cut him off. Riker was amazed at the speed that he possessed.  
  
After subduing the first man, he ran inside. Riker remembered seeing three other men. He then heard three shots fired. Riker began to tense. He reached for his revolver again, knowing that it would do him little good.  
  
Riker's mood changed when he seen Deanna and Beverly walk out of the bank. They were both still alive. Riker ran towards them both.  
  
"Are you two alright?" Riker was frantic that they had been hurt.  
  
"We're fine." Beverly replied.  
  
"What the hell happened in there?" Riker demanded.  
  
"That man just walked in and shot all three of them. He only hit their weapons though." Deanna responded first. "After that, he knocked them out with blows to the head."  
  
The man in the red coat exited the bank and walked towards Riker. He was no longer wearing the yellow sunglasses revealing his emerald eyes. His face was plastered with a smile that ran from ear to ear.  
  
"I bring a message for you all." He started. He looked to see who could hear and noticed that no one was interested in them. "You are to report back immediately."  
  
"Report back to whom? We are from another city on vacation." Deanna replied. They had rehearsed their cover story before hand.  
  
"Captain Picard. I have a set of beam out coordinates. We should go quick." He turned and started walking in the direction he had come from.  
  
"How do you know that? Who are you?" Beverly asked.  
  
"Your ship rescued me. And I am Vash." He replied.  
  
"As in Vash the Stampede?" Riker half joked.  
  
Vash turned around and looked at all of them. "Yes. Now let's hurry."  
  
Riker looked towards Deanna for an answer. "He is being completely honest. But we should contact the Enterprise."  
  
"Good idea." Riker tapped the com-badge under his vest. "Riker to Enterprise."  
  
"This is the Enterprise. Did Vash find a way out for you number one?" Picard asked.  
  
"Yes he did sir. We are proceeding to the beam out coordinates. Riker out." Riker cast another glance at Deanna. "I think we missed something."  
  
"No doubt we missed something. Let's get home." Beverly added as they followed the outlaw they had heard so much about.  
  
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Meryl watched as Vash and three others materialized in front of her eyes. She had not left the transporter room since Vash had beamed down. As the process finished, Meryl ran up to her husband throwing her arms around his neck.  
  
"Hey, I was only gone for twelve minutes." He responded as he caught her full weight. Although she did not weigh very much, she could throw it around.  
  
"I was just worried that you were going to be hunted again. You said you wouldn't put that coat back on!" Meryl said, holding back small tears.  
  
"I needed to use it for the effect I was going for." He began to apologize.  
  
"You planned all of that from the beginning?" Riker stepped forward to ask.  
  
"Only the coat. The rest just sort of happened." Vash set his wife on her own feet and placed his left hand behind his head. "It's sort of a fluke."  
  
"You have great skill but you credit it to luck. Why don't you just admit it?" Deanna stepped forward. She could sense he was lying about his abilities.  
  
"Well I..." Vash started. Picard interrupted them by entering the Transporter room  
  
"Its about time Will. You look like you need a shower." Picard joked. Riker almost looked natural in his disguise.  
  
"Sorry for the holdup Captain. They wanted a sandwich." Riker pointed at the two women.  
  
"I'll read your report later." Picard turned towards Vash and Meryl. "I cannot thank you enough for risking yourself to help my officers. Join me in the Briefing room at 1500 tomorrow."  
  
"Ok." Was the only response Vash could give.  
  
Picard smiled and walked out of the doors. Riker Troi and Crusher all followed behind him. Vash and Meryl finally left and headed towards their room.  
  
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Captain Picard was sitting in his ready room staring at the stars of this galaxy.  
  
"Earl Grey, hot." He spoke aloud, not taking his eyes from the stars.  
  
His drink materialized in the replicator and Picard reached over and removed it. Bringing the teacup to his mouth he took a small sip before setting it on his desk. His focus was interrupted by the door signal.  
  
"Come." He commanded. As the doors parted, Councilor Troi stepped through.  
  
"You wanted to see me captain?" She said as she took the seat in front of the desk.  
  
"Yes." Picard turned back so he could face her more directly. "We have full power back, but we have one small problem."  
  
"The natives of the planet." Deanna answered for him. Her Betazed half allowed her to sense his feelings about them. "You're not sure what to do with them yet."  
  
"We cannot deny them the choice that they have. I don't know if their ready for it." Picard's face was laced with worry.  
  
"Why don't you ask them?" Deanna offered.  
  
"I plan on it."  
  
"Then why did you call me in here?" Deanna probed. She could tell that he was hiding something since he began speaking.  
  
"I wanted to know how you were doing." Picard answered. He knew that he couldn't hide things like that from his councilor. If she had been full human, he could have.  
  
"I've been taken hostage before Captain." She answered. She noticed the sigh of relief come from Picard.  
  
"well then," Picard went back to his normal business self. "I'm glad to hear that. Thank you councilor."  
  
"Anytime." Deanna stood up and walked through the doors leaving Picard by himself again.  
  
"I hope this goes over better than it has before." Picard said to no one. "It's easier to fill out the paperwork if it goes smoothly."  
  
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Ok, that's it for this chapter. Please review it. I hope you enjoyed it. 


	6. Choosing their Fate

Hello all again. I'm back with the newest installment of my fiction. Check the earlier chapters for some minor updates.  
  
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Vash, Meryl, Knives, Milly, and Rem were waiting in the briefing room. Each of them was looking out of the windows at the planet below them as they waited for the Enterprise's officers to come in.  
  
"Why do you think they wanted to meet with us again?" Meryl asked aloud. She had been absent for the meetings before. "And why all of us?"  
  
"Maybe they want to have dinner here!" Milly shouted. Her ability to underestimate the situation was still there. "Or maybe they want us to go with them."  
  
Knives looked at her. "We are inferior technologically. Why would they want us to go with them? It would serve no purpose."  
  
"Would we get to fly around space daddy?" Rem chimed in. Her youth still granted her the ability to forget about any other circumstance.  
  
"I don't know. They did say they wanted to study us some more." He suddenly cringed at the studies that he remembered from far too long ago.  
  
"I don't think so." Knives responded. He knew what his brother was thinking about because he was thinking the same thing. "They don't need Plants for a power source. I read about their warp cores. They produce thousands of times more energy than the Plant angels could."  
  
"But how do their warp cores work? Is it some other being that powers them?" Meryl asked. Her curiosity was beginning to over power her.  
  
"No." Knives began. "They produce power from a matter/anti-matter reaction."  
  
"What are matter and anti-matter?" Milly asked.  
  
Vash understood why she didn't know what either of them was. He flashed back to the SEEDS ships remembering the theories about that sort of power and how the humans were never able to make it work. "Matter is what everything around us is. Anti-matter is the exact opposite. I think."  
  
At that moment, Captain Picard and Councilor Troi entered the room.  
  
"Thank you for coming. Please have a seat." Picard offered as he sat at the head of the table. Councilor Troi sat next to him. Vash, Meryl, and Rem sat on the side of the table opposite of Troi and Knives and Milly sat next to her.  
  
"I'm sure you are wondering why we wanted to speak with you again." Troi began. "I can sense that you are all still a bit confused and amazed at what you have seen."  
  
"Sense?" Vash was confused even more. "Are you telepathic like me and Knives?"  
  
"Yes. I can sense other people emotions." Troi responded.  
  
"So you can tell what our attitudes are?" Milly asked in her usual bubbly way.  
  
"While this may be enlightening to you all, I want to come to the reason why I called you in here." Picard interrupted. With attention back on him he began again. "We have a certain law about interfering with developing cultures. It is our Prime Directive."  
  
"And this matters how?" Knives asked. He did not understand what Picard was getting at quite yet.  
  
"It matters because we have been put in an awkward position." Picard began choosing his next words carefully. "By allowing you all to see what we have, we have in a sense, violated that Directive."  
  
"So your saving us broke one of your laws?" Meryl asked. After spending so many years working in Insurance, she could understand, to some extent, what was about to happen.  
  
"No." Picard recovered. "We are also required to render assistance to person's in distress, as you were. But we are obligated to give you a choice in this matter."  
  
"What choice?" Vash understood that his ticket to the future was blank. That he had countless choices at each road.  
  
"One choice is that you can go back to your planet and disregard what you have seen here with us." Troi answered. She wanted the first choice to sink in first.  
  
"Disregard?" Rem offered. She did not understand as fully as the adults did.  
  
Troi looked at the girl. "It means that you can't speak about this to anyone. It may affect your future." She tried to explain it for the girl, but it was just too hard to explain.  
  
Rem cast her eyes at the black table. She understood what it meant but not the why behind it.  
  
"What is the other choice?" Vash asked. A part of him did not want to hear the answer.  
  
Picard moved forward in his chair and spoke. "You can come with us and start a new life."  
  
Those words hit everyone like a heard of Thomas. They were all shocked at the chance they had been given.  
  
Picard noticed their shock. "I will give you four hours to decide. But we have to travel back through the wormhole soon." Picard paused for a moment and stood up. "I will come back for your decision." Both he and Troi left the room. The silence that followed was unbroken for the first ten minutes.  
  
Knives was the first to break the silence. "We should go with them."  
  
"And abandon everyone on Gunsmoke!" Vash exclaimed. "How could we live with ourselves?"  
  
"How will we live with ourselves if we stay and know that there is more out there?" Milly responded. "How will people look at us if we mention any of this? Especially Rem!" Milly was uncharacteristically serious.  
  
"Why do you want to go so bad Milly?" Knives asked. "Is your life on Gunsmoke really that bad?"  
  
"I can get pudding whenever I want! That ever happens at the store." Good old Milly came back again.  
  
"This sounds like the place we have been trying to create for so long. No wars. No stealing. Just peaceful days where people can live as people." Meryl added.  
  
Vash was still reluctant. He seemed to be outnumbered three to one. "But look at this ship. It has many of the characteristics of a military. They all wear uniforms. Why would you need a military if there was no war?" He tried to reason something out.  
  
"Think about me daddy!" Rem added. "I want to go!" She was so enthusiastic.  
  
"Yes think about your daughter." Meryl began. She had come to the decision that she would do anything to stay on this ship. "Think about how many times we have moved her into another school because the others wouldn't accept her. This place is full of many different people."  
  
"You're right." Vash realized the opportunity of the moment. "We can finally live in peace."  
  
"I knew you would turn around Vash." Knives smirked. "Besides, now you can spread 'Love and Peace' around a whole new world."  
  
"We should ask a couple of questions when they come back though." Milly stated.  
  
"Like what?" Knives and Vash said in unison.  
  
"One will come to me." Milly then smiled and leaned back in her chair.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
"It's been four hours." Picard announced to no one in particular. "Time to get their decision." He stood from his chair on the bridge and walked towards the Briefing Room.  
  
'I hope they chose to go with us.' Picard thought. 'It will keep fleet off of my back for another controversial Prime Directive breach.'  
  
As he walked through the doors, he caught them staring at the stars again. He wondered what could be going through their minds right now.  
  
"Have you come to a decision?" Picard asked as he approached Vash.  
  
"Almost, but can I ask a question?" Vash responded.  
  
"Yes, always." Picard knew that there would be questions, there always were.  
  
"Are there no wars in your galaxy?" Vash wanted to know if such a place existed. He believed that these people would be most likely to have that.  
  
Picard dreaded that question the instant he heard it. The Dominion War was still being cleaned up. The reconstruction of Cardassia Prime was underway, but all diplomatic relations were unstable. His recent encounter with the So'Na was no better.  
  
"We still have wars in our galaxy." Picard knew that the truth was the only answer. "We have just ended an interstellar war between all of the major powers. Reconstruction of the war zone is underway."  
  
"So with all of this technology, you still can't create an Eden?" Vash was astounded that people this advanced would still fight each other.  
  
"It is a complicated matter. We live in troubled times. We do everything we can to avoid it, but it happened. Does this change your minds?" Picard was concerned for them. They were about to choose between life on a dessert planet and life in a galaxy with unstable peace.  
  
Meryl spoke before anyone could speak differently. "We want to go with you. I want to see a planet that isn't just dessert."  
  
"I agree." Came Knives' reply.  
  
"Me too!" Rem exclaimed.  
  
"I go with Knives." Milly stated.  
  
"I cannot leave my family. So I am going as well." Vash stated. He did not want to go to a place where wars were fought between ships like this one and others. The thoughts of the death that could be caused overwhelmed him.  
  
"Very well. Picard to Bridge. Set a course for the wormhole and prepare to go home." Picard turned towards the doors. "You can join us on the bridge. But it will be a bumpy ride." Then he exited.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
The Enterprise turned towards the wormhole. It engaged its impulse engines and started to slip through the dark sky towards where the wormhole was. As the ship approached it, the burst of red, silver, and yellow light opened up.  
  
********************************************************************  
  
"The wormhole is beginning to draw us in sir." Data called out. The ship started to shake because the inertial dampeners could not keep up with the pounding.  
  
"Don't fight it this time. Raise shields." Picard called. "Helm, take us home."  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Vash was watching the scenery pass them from his quarters. He was startled when the burst of light from the wormhole covered the window.  
  
"Knives look!" He shouted. His brother turned his attention towards the window.  
  
"That is the same light we saw on the way back to January." He responded. "We watched this ship come to our world." His awe was interrupted as the ship shook to one side abruptly. Knives and Vash fell to the floor.  
  
"What's happening Daddy?" Rem called out. The girl was confused and afraid at this new development.  
  
Vash regained his composure and stood back up. Looking out the window again, he saw a quick flash of particles around the ship. "The Captain said it would be a bumpy ride."  
  
"That was more than just a bump Vash!" Meryl called out. She gripped the chair trying to brace herself for any more of these bumps.  
  
"They have better technology." Knives started. "They are not invincible." As to emphasize his point, the ship jolted again. This one was harder than the last.  
  
Vash and Knives found themselves being thrown to the floor again.  
  
"Maybe we should just stay down until we get past the bumpy part!" Vash called out.  
  
"Maybe this is how they travel through space. Maybe it is so bumpy that only a few people do it." Milly stated.  
  
"The Captain said they have entire fleets of ships, Milly." Knives started. He waited until the most recent jolt allowed him time to speak gain. "I doubt that travel through space is this rough."  
  
Everyone in the room looked towards the window as the bright lights disappeared and gave way to a black blanket and stars. The ship also stopped shuddering.  
  
Vash started to stand again. "I think we are done with the rough parts."  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Sector 001 Sol System:  
  
"Status report." Picard called out. The officers on the bridge had been ready for the rough ride. None of them had fallen from their station.  
  
"We are back in Sector 001." Data called out.  
  
"Tactical confirms." Worf said from behind.  
  
"Helm set a course for Earth and engage at best speed." Picard called out.  
  
"Damage report." Riker called out.  
  
"Minimal sir. Engineering reports full power. No systems were damaged." Worf reported.  
  
"You have the bridge Number 1. I'm going to check on our guests." Picard stood up and started for the turbo lift.  
  
"Yes sir." Riker responded.  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
The door chime sounded as Vash was trying to order more doughnuts from the replicator.  
  
"Come in." He called at the door. He was still going over the many different flavors that the replicator was displaying for him.  
  
Picard walked through the doors and noticed Vash at the replicator. He took a moment to see who else was in the room. He seen Meryl and Rem asleep on the bed.  
  
"I'd like to welcome you all to Sector 001 of the Federation." Picard stated. Vash turned to face him on hearing the news.  
  
"You mean we are here already?" He looked like he was about to start pouting.  
  
"Yes. We should arrive at Earth within the next few hours." Picard stated.  
  
"I thought you said that we were 700,000 light-years away from earth?" Vash asked. His attention taken away from his important business earlier.  
  
"Yes I did. We traveled through what we call a wormhole. Some wormholes, like the one in orbit of your planet, have the ability to connect areas that are very distant. The 'rough ride' was from traveling back through the wormhole." Picard explained as he walked over to the replicator. "Doughnuts?"  
  
"I was just ordering something to eat. Do you have any recommendations?" Vash asked as he remembered what he was doing.  
  
"Yes I do." Picard grinned. He hadn't had a doughnut for a long time. "Computer, Krispy Kreme, Glazed, Hot."  
  
Vash watched as the doughnuts appeared. He reached in, grabbing one of the pastries. He sniffed it quickly and took a bite.  
  
"Wow, these are really good!" He exclaimed. The excitement in his voice carried to the bed where it woke Meryl up.  
  
"Do you eat a lot of doughnuts?" Picard asked. He decided that they should talk about what Vash was going to do in the federation.  
  
"Yes he eats a lot of them." Meryl spoke as she walked up. "You can't keep him away from them. Your replicator is the greatest thing he has ever seen." She walked up and stood next to Vash.  
  
"The replicator rarely dos anything justice. Try the ones from Earth that are actually cooked." Picard joked. He could tell the sarcasm in Meryl's voice.  
  
"Bridge to Picard." Riker called over the intercom. His voice had a bit of an edge to it.  
  
"Picard here, go ahead Number 1."  
  
"Starfleet transmitted an urgent message. They want us to go to Breen border." Riker said.  
  
"Do they realize that we have a report to file with headquarters and drop off civilians?" Picard asked.  
  
"I informed them of our situation. They said this takes priority."  
  
"Set a course and engage at warp 9.5. Picard out." Picard turned back towards the couple in front of him. "Our trip to Earth is going to be delayed."  
  
"We heard Captain. Who are the 'Breen'?" Vash asked. Concern laced his eyes and his voice.  
  
"The Breen are one of the species we were fighting with. They probably want us to settle a territory dispute." Picard tried his best to comfort them.  
  
"How long before we get to the border?" Meryl asked.  
  
"A couple of days. The trip through the wormhole didn't damage us this time." Picard said.  
  
"Why did it damage you last time?" Meryl was full of questions.  
  
"We weren't ready for it." Picard checked the display on the viewer in the room. "If you'll excuse me, I need to send transmission to fleet." He started back out of the quarters.  
  
"Will we be alright Captain?" Vash asked. He felt like he could do nothing.  
  
"Yes of course." Picard turned back around as the doors opened. "Fate and luck protect young children and starships named Enterprise."  
  
"What does that mean?" Meryl was confused. She didn't know why he would talk in riddles.  
  
"You are aboard the Federation Flagship. We are the best in the fleet." He smiled and exited the room as the doors closed behind him.  
  
"That was confusing." Vash scratched his head. "You'd think he expected a fight."  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
More action for the trek side of the universe. And Vash has gotten himself into the middle of it. My small teaser from last time still applies. Will Vash find out how smart he really is? How will they live in this new world? Keep with me to find out. 


	7. Combat, Not wat they expected

Hi there, I'm finally back. Please excuse my absence, school got in the way of my writing and I have had a block for the last little while. But the good part is that I am back now. Anyway, I'd like to give a note to all my reviewers since last chapter.  
  
Writegirl: I like cliffhangers though. It is so much fun to do. There is another one, and until the fic ends (cause yes there will be an end) there should be a cliffy at the end of each chapter. Otherwise you would think it done.  
  
Luis: I finally wrote some more. And I'm glad you liked the new chapter.  
  
l. chrisoula Winfield: Vash will come out of his little "I'm stupid don't pay attention to me bit" for the federation. I start hinting at it in this chapter. It will come out more later on. But I leave all the imagination of how he does it to you.  
  
Asteria: Glad you think everyone is in character. I was worried about it for a while when I started it out. Thanks for your review.  
  
Popples: Thank you for saying I have good character consistency I thought it only appropriate that Vash had a daughter and named her Rem.  
  
Brax: Thank you for not only reviewing but also sending me e-mails. It helped get me out of my writer's block and back to updating. I must give credit to you, your idea made it into the fic, it's at the end. Thanks for the reviews. And I tried to put more comedy into it. But Federation peoples are normally pretty stiff around other 'aliens'.  
  
Delphine Pryde: Thank you for telling me that I did this crossover nicely. I was hoping that it wouldn't seem to cliché.  
  
Well now, on to the story. We last left off with Vash thinking that Picard was expecting a fight.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
The Enterprise slid through the blackness called space effortlessly at warp speed. It had been 28 hours since the ship had received new orders to travel to the Breen border. Vash noticed that since that conversation, none of the Starfleet personnel seemed interested in the small group of residents from Gunsmoke.  
  
Vash was staring out of the window in his quarters when Knives came through the door.  
  
"Hey, Vash." Knives spoke calmly as he walked up to his brother. "Double dollar for your thoughts?"  
  
"They don't use double dollars in this place remember." Vash smirked. "You should know better than anyone that my thoughts are normally free."  
  
"Let me guess then," Knives started. "You've been wondering about the Breen, haven't you?"  
  
Vash turned to face his brother. "Yes I have."  
  
"I looked up some information in this ships computers about them. It said that they are a race that lives on a cold planet. They wear environmental suits to have contact with outsiders. They also have a reputation for being a violent race. Attacking colonies, and even fighting the federation during what they call the Dominion War." Knives offered.  
  
"So we were right to guess that Picard was expecting a fight when we get to Breen space." Vash offered.  
  
"Perhaps," Knives turned to face the window. "Then again, it does say that they surrendered."  
  
"We were wrong." Vash stated.  
  
"About what?"  
  
"In thinking that this new galaxy was without war and violence. It doesn't sound like they have peaceful days." Vash let his gaze drop. He was beginning to feel like he had made a terrible mistake.  
  
"You should stop fretting," Knives began. "We all made the choice knowing what this..."  
  
Knives was cut off by the lights in the room dimming suddenly. As both Plans realized what was happening, a red glow started to flash through the room. Klaxons began sounding as the starship dropped from warp speeds.  
  
"What's going on?" Vash shouted over the noise.  
  
"I don't know!" Knives responded. "Computer stop the alarms and tell us what happened!"  
  
The klaxons stopped sounding. When the computer spoke, Vash and Knives froze in place.  
  
"The Enterprise has entered Red alert status. All civilians are secured in their quarters until further notice." The cold voice of the computer informed.  
  
"Weapons and shields." Vash said as he looked at his brother. "Where are the girls?"  
  
Knives was left in shock. As he began to open his mouth to say where he last saw them, the ship shook violently sending both of them to the floor.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Meryl, Millie, and Rem had been in the holodeck and were on their way back to their quarters when the lights cut to the red glow.  
  
"Mommy, what's this mean?" Rem asked looking at the pretty red flashing lights.  
  
"I don't know honey." Meryl responded. "Maybe we should ask a---"She was cut off as the ship suddenly shook violently throwing all three of them to the floor.  
  
Rem began to cry because she had hit her head against the bulkhead. Millie was struggling to stand back up after Meryl had been thrown on top of her.  
  
"Meryl, I think we should find someplace to---."Millie had started to say as the ship shuttered back to the other side. Each of them landed on the deck again.  
  
Rem continued her crying. But neither of the women heard her. Both of them were unconscious from being hurled into the bulkhead.  
  
********************************************************************  
  
"Damage Report!" Riker yelled as he struggled back into his chair.  
  
"The Engineering Hull Has sustained moderate damage. Shields are now operational." Worf reported from his station. The Klingon had always been standing during attacks, so he was used to staying in that position after hard hits like the last two.  
  
""Picard to Engineering. Geordie, why the hell didn't the shields raise?" Picard had just started getting back into his chair.  
  
"Apparently that wormhole affected the power distribution systems, they are working fine now." Geordies voice called out over the ships intercom.  
  
"Where are our attackers?" Picard said as he looked at Data.  
  
"After both shots, their ships went into warp speeds. I have their course and speed." Data replied.  
  
"Stand down from Red Alert and begin repairs. We will maintain this position until I contact Starfleet." Picard gave the orders realizing that whoever had attacked was not ay power involved in the War. The brief glimpse of one of the attackers did not match any known configuration.  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
Dr. Crusher had been in combat plenty of times during her career. She was glad that she had no crew casualties from this last attack. She turned in her office chair to tend to some of her paper work when Vash and Knives came into the room. Both of them were frantic for something.  
  
"Meryl, Rem!" Vash started to call out. He searched the sickbay for both of them.  
  
"Millie!" Knives yelled. He was in the same emotional state as his brother.  
  
"They're not here." Beverly said trying to calm them down.  
  
"Then where are they?" Vash asked. His worry began overcoming him.  
  
"We will find them." Crusher started. She reached her right hand up and tapped the communications badge. "Crusher to Security. The three females from Gunsmoke are missing. Begin a search."  
  
As she finished her short command, two security officers came through the doors. One was carrying Meryl. The other was carrying Millie. Rem followed them closely and was still crying.  
  
"Put them on those beds." Crusher indicated two empty bio-beds by pointing in the general direction.  
  
"Rem!" Vash shouted as he ran to his daughter and picked her up.  
  
"Daddy! The floor started shaking and I hit my head and then it shook again, and mommy hit her head and she wouldn't wake up and I kept crying but I didn't want to leave and then these two men came up and took us here and I don't like it in space anymore and I want to go home and I want a doughnut!" Rem said through her tears.  
  
"It's ok, mommy will be ok." Vash said as he calmed his child down. As he did so he looked over towards DR. Crusher as she was going over Meryl's unconscious form.  
  
"Three cc's hydrocortazine. Give me the cortical stimulator." She demanded. After one of the nurses handed her the device, she attached it onto Meryl's forehead and activated it. "She has a moderate concussion. She should come around."  
  
Just like Crusher said, Meryl's eyes began to flutter and then open. Meryl dropped into a state of near panic.  
  
"Where am I? Where is my daughter? Where is Vash?" She began yelling as two nurses rushed to hold her down.  
  
"We're right here." Vash said soothingly. He was concerned about his wife. "And we are on the Enterprise."  
  
"What happened? Where is Millie?" Meryl searched the room. Se located her friend on another Bio-bed sitting up with Knives by her side.  
  
"Mommy, you went to sleep while the ship was shaking and you wouldn't wake up until now and I was scared and I'm hungry." Rem started again. Although she had stopped crying, her sniffling still affected her voice.  
  
As Vash leaned down to set Rem on the floor, Meryl Doubled up her fist and hit him in the back of the head. Vash fell to the floor as Knives chuckled. Dr. Crusher seemed absolutely shocked.  
  
"Why didn't you get her something to eat broom-head?" Meryl half yelled. As Vash stood up she smiled at him.  
  
"Yeah, you're doing fine I see." Vash said as he rubbed his head. "You could have just said 'I love you' or something."  
  
After seeing what had just happened, Beverly decided not to ask. "Meryl you need to rest. And I want you to stay here for a while just to be sure."  
  
"Ok," Meryl nodded. No doubt Millie had been told the same thing. She turned to face Vash again. "Get her something to eat."  
  
"Ok, Ok, just don't hit me again. Or I will be next to you in here." He commented as he took his daughters hand. "Let's go get something good to eat. Okay."  
  
"I'll come right back here mommy." Rem said as they walked through the door.  
  
After watching his brother leave Knives decided to just stay in sickbay.  
  
"Why don't you go with them?" Millie asked. She seemed to be barely phased by the whole ordeal. That's what made Knives fall for her. Her carefree attitude always drew him closer to her.  
  
"I'm staying here with you." Knives responded as he thought about when he first seen Millie.  
  
*flashback* *************************************************************  
  
Millie had agreed to watch over Knives until Vash returned from the store. Knives had been unconscious for ten days straight. Millie had just been sitting there petting the black cat that her and Meryl adopted while living in the small town.  
  
When Knives opened his eyes, he first saw the ceiling. Then he turned his head to the side and saw a brown haired woman sitting across from him. At first he was disgusted by the fact that he was in the same room as one of the 'spiders,' and even more so by the fact that he was injured to the point where moving caused immense amounts of pain. 'Damn Vash for leaving me here like this with this, this...' his thought trailed off as Millie approached him.  
  
"Oh your finally up. I bet you're hungry. I'll go get you some soup." Then she calmly walked out of the door.  
  
Knives was shocked. First by the fact that she did not fear him like all of the Gung-Ho Guns did. Secondly, she had been with his brother for so long, Knives guessed that she knew who he was. But she went to go me soup.  
  
Millie returned shortly with a bowl of steaming soup and sat next to him on the bed.  
  
"Here drink up, it will help you get your strength back." She offered him the hot bowl.  
  
"Why?" Knives spoke in a low raspy voice. His vocal chords hurt from not being used.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Why are you doing this?" Knives was able to sound more audible this time around.  
  
"Because Vash wants you to regain your strength." She set the bowl net to him and stood up. "I'll go find him and tell him that you are awake."  
  
Millie exited the small room and left Knives to himself. Knives pushed himself up, although painfully, into a sitting position leaning against the headboard of his bed. He reached over to take the soup.  
  
'I'll regain my strength and cause Vash so much suffering for shooting me that many times.' He took the soup and began to drink it. 'But that girl wasn't afraid of me. Why?'  
  
*end flashback* *******************************************************  
  
Knives always thought she was simply putting on an act. But after getting to know her, he realized that was the way she was.  
  
"Go and eat something, I will be fine." Millie insisted. "Besides, you have to make sure Vash gets Rem something good to eat and not just doughnuts."  
  
"You're right." Knives stood up. "I'll go check on them." He kissed Millie on the cheek and left the room.  
  
After Knives was out of earshot, Millie glanced at Meryl, who had been watching them the whole time.  
  
"Has he asked you yet?" Meryl asked. Millie understood what se meant.  
  
"Yes he did. We were married three months ago. Knives just wanted to wait for the best time to tell Vash." Millie responded. She didn't want to ruin the surprise for Vash. She knew she could trust Meryl to keep it from him though.  
  
"I should have known." Meryl started. "You two spent so long together, I should have figured it out." Meryl realized again that Millie was smarter than everyone gave her credit for.  
  
"Do you think it was wrong of me to accept?" Millie suddenly seemed saddened by her own happiness.  
  
"What do you mean?" Meryl shifted her legs off of her bed.  
  
"Was it wrong of me to just forget Mr. Wolfwood like this?"  
  
"I think he would have wanted you to be happy, Millie. It's always hard to move on, but he would be happy for you." Meryl tried her best to comfort her friend.  
  
"I guess your right." Millie seemed to cheer up a bit. Dr. crusher started to walk up to her after examining her medical readings.  
  
"Where did Knives go?" Beverly asked as she stopped next to the bio-bed.  
  
"He went to get something to eat." Millie responded with her usual cheery demeanor.  
  
"I wanted to tell the both of you at the same time, but I guess you can tell him later."  
  
"Tell him what?" Meryl jumped into the conversation.  
  
"Well," Beverly started. "Millie, you're pregnant."  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Worf was sitting in Ten Forward eating some Klingon gahg from the replicator. He knew that it wasn't the best kind of gahg but it would have to do. It had been almost two years since Jadzia had been killed. The only thing keeping him sane was the fact that he took his old post on the Enterprise. It kept him away from the memories.  
  
As he sat there eating, he noticed Vash and Rem walk through the doors. Worf knew what is meant to be a father. His son, Alexander, was aboard the I.K.S. Ya'Vang. He had not spoken to him since his wedding to Jadzia.  
  
"I must stop dwelling on the past." Worf muttered to himself. He thought of anyway to free his mind. Then it came to him. Vash was said to be a powerful man being able to elude many bounty hunters. "He must be a great warrior." Worf muttered again. His thought turned towards the tall blond man. Worf studied his clothing. He then remembered the story that Vash and Knives had told. They made comment about their 'angel arm' that could destroy entire cities and drill great craters in a moon.  
  
"He must be a warrior." Worf stood and began to approach Vash as Knives entered the room. Worf paused a moment to allow the two brothers to speak before interrupting them.  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
Vash had ordered a plate of doughnuts when he entered Ten Forward.  
  
"Daddy?" Rem Began to speak up again.  
  
"What is it Rem?" Vash responded with his fatherly tone.  
  
"I want to stay with mommy in the hospital."  
  
"OK, but first you have to eat something so daddy doesn't get hit again." Vash smiled as he thought how much he actually enjoyed being hit in the head by his 'loving' wife.  
  
As the two of them began eating, Knives entered the room. Vash also noticed that the Klingon, Worf was it, was heading his way.  
  
"Hey Vash, I thought I'd join you." Knives said with a light wave.  
  
"Of course." Vash turned back to his doughnuts.  
  
"Vash I'd like to talk to you about something." Knives started.  
  
"What..." Vash stuffed a doughnut in his mouth, chewed it and swallowed. "About?" Another doughnut suffered the same fate.  
  
Knives leaned down towards Rem, "Would you go back and check on Millie and Meryl for me?" He smiled. He thought this should get her out of the way so he could talk to his brother privately.  
  
"OK!" Rem shouted and started for the door. "I know where it is!" She continued out before Vash had a chance to object.  
  
"Well, I hope you know I'm going to get hit for this one." Vash started, He seemed depressed until he started eating again.  
  
"I wanted to tell you something about me and Millie." Knives began. He wasn't sure how Vash would take this. But given their recent situation, it should be no problem.  
  
"You married her." Vash stated in between doughnuts.  
  
"How the Hell did you know?" Knives began.  
  
"I'm quicker than you all give me credit for. I noticed the ring on her hand." Vash said before shoving another doughnut down.  
  
"You feign density better than anyone." Knives glared at him.  
  
Worf took this moment as the time to approach.  
  
"You two have great power," Worf began.  
  
Vash turned around, then instinctively covered his doughnuts. "No you can't have them!"  
  
"Shut up, that's not what he means," Knives scolded. He then turned towards the Klingon. "Your point is?"  
  
"I wish to engage you in friendly combat. A show of strength." Worf spoke with the true air of a Klingon.  
  
"Why would you want us to fight you?" Vash spoke back.  
  
"I have challenged many in combat, I wish to see your skill and how you gained such a reputation."  
  
"Can't we just discuss this?" Vash said again, clearly whining.  
  
"You are such a baby Vash," Knives began. "He wants to test his strength to yours. There is no harm in that is there?"  
  
Worf visibly smiled. The thought of combat with a legend from a planet always caused the blood in him to boil in anticipation.  
  
"But, I'm a gunman. They have force fields and phasers and all sorts of technology on us. How would it be a fair fight?" Vash obviously did not want to fight someone from this new galaxy. He hated fighting period.  
  
"I have fought a Kelvan twice my side and succeeded in this manner of combat. Surely you would indulge me. Or at least give me witness to your 'angel arm' so that I may understand it better."  
  
"Klingons are violent aren't they?" Knives stated. He suddenly realized that this was not the ideal statement to make.  
  
"We are warriors. As I assume you two are." Worf seemed proud every time he even spoke the word warrior.  
  
"Me," Vash started. "I'm a peace-loving gunman who chases the elusive mayfly known as love."  
  
Vash was hit in the back of the head. He wondered if Meryl has entered the room but realized it was much more forceful than the playful hits that she gave him. Vash knew it had been his brother.  
  
"What was that for?" Vash demanded.  
  
"Meryl wasn't here to do it." Knives responded nonchalantly.  
  
"Interesting words from a man that was claimed to be the most destructive on the planet." Worf started again. "Then you will not fight me."  
  
"I don't like fighting." Vash started.  
  
"Then how does your 'angel arm' do so much damage, and why would you use it?" Worf questioned.  
  
"Like we said before," Knives started the explanation again. "I made the two revolvers that allow us to transform our arms into the 'angel arm.' I mad ash use his the first time, followed by Legato the second, followed by a combination of the both of us the third time."  
  
"How does it gather the energy for the blast then?" Worf was curious. Had there been such a weapon in Klingon history, surely Kahless would have had it first.  
  
"It gathers the energy from our existence. The Plant species produces amounts of power beyond all theoretical law on our world." Knives continued. "We also can gather some energies from the world itself."  
  
"Any of those times we used that weapon, we could have destroyed the whole planet." Vash added. He did not like the fact that he had used the 'angel arm' three times, destroying two of the seven major cities with the blasts.  
  
"Such power would have turned the War quickly." Worf thought about Jadzia again.  
  
"You seem very distant about that war. What happened during it?" Vash became curious about why this Klingon would be so reserved about this war.  
  
"The federation data banks have all the information." Worf tried to avoid the subject.  
  
"But it hit you in a different kind of way." Vash pushed further.  
  
"He doesn't want to..." Knives was cut off by Worf.  
  
"I lost my wife during that war." Worf let it out.  
  
"I'm sorry." Vash replied.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Unknown to the crew, a small listening device had been placed o the hull during the short skirmish.  
  
Its owner was amused by this latest conversation.  
  
"Very powerful indeed."  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Who is this mysterious person behind the 'bug?' And what does he plan to do with this new knowledge? (Brax you can't spoil it for anyone.) Please review me. I might start updating regularly again. 


	8. Kidnapping

Hi, I'm sorry this has been taking so long to do an update. I get distracted really easily and I forget completely to update or type even. Anyway, here is the next chapter. It isn't as long as I hoped it would be, but I just ran out of ideas for the chapter. Hopefully the next one will be longer.  
  
Anyway, a note to those who review.  
  
Asteria: Thanks for the encouragement about Rem and the likeness to her father. And I do plan to keep going until I get to the ending I have thought about. Which I don't know how long it will be until then. Thanks for catching my screwup on this chapter. i kind of deleted some things and it didn't get typed back in.  
  
Luis: here is the next chapter, I'm glad you have been looking forward to it.  
  
Killereagle9999: here is the next chap. I'm going to try and plan on updating more. And thanks for both reviews. It means a lot.  
  
Brax: You're welcome on placing the idea in. I had thought about something along those lines, I just needed something to tell me to do it. And yes, it may have been quick, but that was the defining moment for the next few chapters.  
  
Crystaline-Dragon: Thanks for giving it a chance. I had originally wondered if there were enough people who watch Trigun and Star Trek to really be any good. But apparently, there are more than I think. And yes, it would have been funnier to have Worf chase Vash.  
  
Jojo-the-jellyfish: I agree that Vash would be in heaven with krispy kreme, and your dilemma is the same I have struggled with since the start. When you get an answer to whether Vash and co. should be real or the Star Trek cast is anime, let me know.  
  
l. chrisoula Winfield: I'm glad the last update was what you expected. Hopefully this one is as good. And don't worry, I have not died.  
  
Ozymandius Jones: wouldn't we all like to know who this bugger is. But don't expect the reveal for a bit. First to know is going to be Knives.  
  
X-Over: Here is an update for you to read.  
  
Skyrocket: after you said it, I realized I was kind of moving a bit fast and glancing over a bit. If I get the time sometime, I'll go back and rewrite the earlier chapters to include more. I'll try to slow it down a bit.  
  
Now that that is done onto the next chapter.  
  
The Enterprise had started back on its course again. In that time, Vash and his family were in the dark about what was actually going on. They still had access to most of the ship, but Vash was wondering how bad this situation actually was.  
  
It had been several days since Vash had last spoke with Captain Picard. Vash began to wonder if the current situation was everything Picard had said at their last meeting. He also wondered if it had anything to do with the 'War.' Vash had so many questions and no answers at all.  
  
Rem had been watching the streaks of light fly by the room's window. She had been watching that for hours with a child's amusement. Meryl had been calmly sipping a cup of coffee while reading information about the new world they would soon be arriving at. Knives and Milly were keeping to themselves.  
  
"Vash," Meryl looked up from the small PADD in her hand. "It says here that the federation has many worlds in it. Many of those are uninhabited."  
  
"Yeah, what are you thinking?" Vash walked over to her.  
  
"Maybe we could have an entire planet to ourselves?" Meryl told him. The look on her face was serious. "No one else to bother any of us."  
  
"What?" Vash stepped back in his surprise only to find Meryl starting to smile.  
  
"I'm joking. You seemed stressed. Not your usual self." She emphasized. "You want to talk about it?"  
  
Vash placed his hand behind his head. "I'm just a little preoccupied with what the Captain said."  
  
"About the Breen?" Meryl asked. She didn't quite understand what he was worried about.  
  
"Maybe it was a mistake to go with them." Vash replied.  
  
"Daddy," Rem's interruption started. "Look at the stars going by!" Her gaze had finally been broken from the window as she turned around to see her parents.  
  
"Yes it is a sight to see." Meryl started. "Something we would never have seen if we didn't come along." Meryl turned to Vash to see his reaction.  
  
"Thank you daddy! Now I've seen something that no one else on Gunsmoke has!" She ran up and hugged her father.  
  
"This is all worth anything that may happen. Good or bad." Meryl finished. She picked up the PADD again. "I also found that there are no insurance companies in the Federation. That means I'm out of a job." She started joking again.  
  
Vash had cheered up somewhat but he was still disturbed about the words between Riker and Picard.  
  
Knives and Milly entered the room. Both of them seemed to be quite happy.  
  
"Millie and I are going to have a baby!" Knives exclaimed. He had never seemed happier in his life. Vash had trouble recalling anytime he had looked this happy.  
  
"That's good to hear." Vash responded. He glanced over at Meryl and noticed she didn't seem surprised by this. So Vash turned to her. "How do you already know?"  
  
"I was there when Doctor Crusher told her. That was uncharacteristically perceptive of you." She commented. She knew he faked his idiotic demeanor to fool bounty hunters. He just couldn't stop doing so.  
  
At that moment, the panel above the replicator began flashing yellow. It displayed the message 'Remain in your room until the ship stands down from Yellow Alert.' Everyone glanced out the window to see the streaks of light stop.  
  
"The ship dropped out of warp drive." Knives said.  
  
"Are they going to fight again?" Millie asked.  
  
"I'm not sure, last time the ship was on Red Alert for a fight." Knives responded.  
  
The door chirp sounded. It startled everyone. With no immediate response, the door opened and two Starfleet security officers were standing outside.  
  
"The Captain informed us to return your weapons." The first one said as the second offered the two revolvers up.  
  
"Why?" Vash asked.  
  
"The Captain gave orders that everyone be armed. We could issue you hand phasers if you like." The second replied.  
  
"We're fine with these." Knives responded. "Why should we be armed? This is a Starfleet ship, we are just passengers."  
  
"Captain's orders. Remain here. It is the safest area. Security personnel will return if needed." The first one finished. After he was done, both of them left the room and headed down the corridor.  
  
"It seems very odd that they would want you two armed." Meryl started. "It just doesn't make any sense, and with your own weapons none-the-less."  
  
"Now that she mentions it, this does seem like some kind of trap." Vash said. "And I have been in lots of traps."  
  
The screen above the replicator stopped flashing yellow.  
  
"It seems that we are back to normal." Knives said.  
  
"Picard to Vash." The ships intercom sounded.  
  
"Yes Captain," Vash was used to the system now. "I'm here."  
  
"We had some kind of sensor glitch, is everything alright there?" Picard stated.  
  
"Everything is..." Knives had started. His speech was cut short as a swirl of bright lights surrounded him. One moment he was there, the next, gone.  
  
The ship shifted from normal conditions into Red Alert a moment later.  
  
"Captain," Vash shouted into the room. "Knives is gone!"  
  
"Pursuit course, engage!" Picard shouted. After the transport, the ship de-cloaked and took off.  
  
The Enterprise-E chased the small ship and began gaining on it.  
  
"Captain we will be in weapons range in 10 seconds." Worf commented. His hands ready to bring the other vessel to a stop with phasers. The controls under him began flashing a new message to him. "Captain, two other ships coming in. Heading 225 mark 006."  
  
The two other vessels armed their weapons and began firing on the federation ship.  
  
"Ignore them, open fire on the lead ship. Target engine systems only." Picard ordered. He was only concerned with the safety of his passenger.  
  
The Enterprise shook violently as she dropped from warp speeds. The two vessels attacking had broken off.  
  
"Damage report!" Riker called back to Worf.  
  
"We sustained minimal damage; however, their weapons disrupted our warp field." Worf responded.  
  
"LaForge to Bridge," Geordie called over the ships intercom. "Every engine system is out of alignment. Whatever they hit us with, it's going to take an hour to get back to where we can run with them."  
  
"Begin repairs. Call a staff meeting. I'm going to inform Starfleet of our current situation." Picard called out as he began walking towards his ready room.  
  
The entire senior staff, along with Vash, Meryl, and Millie, was in the conference room. A plot of the stars in the sector was displayed on the small view screen. Captain Picard entered the room and sat down.  
  
"Begin briefing." Picard ordered as he took his chair.  
  
Data began. "According to our sensor logs, the two ships took off on this projected course towards Breen space. The sensor logs classified the ship as a small scout with warp capabilities of just over warp nine point five."  
  
"Thank you mister Data. Vash, what would someone want with your brother?" Picard asked.  
  
"I don't know, but they have him." Vash was distraught. Having watched his brother simply disappear was new to him. "The only thing either of us has to offer this galaxy is the..." he trailed off. He suddenly realized the reason Knives had been abducted. "They are after the angel arm."  
  
"That weapon you can create?" Worf added. "But he has to choose to use it."  
  
"If they, whoever 'they' are, are after a new weapon, then we can't waste any time Captain." Riker added.  
  
"Agreed." Picard started. "I have informed Starfleet and we are to rendezvous with the U.S.S. Midway Island to begin a search."  
  
"The Midway Island is an Oshiana Class isn't it?" Dr. Crusher started in.  
  
"Starfleet feels that we should be on our guard. And the Midway Island is the closest Heavy Cruiser." Picard turned to look at the screen. "Data, run calculations on which systems have planets on this course. Analyze planet class and surface terrain for probability on where those ships were headed."  
  
"Captain," Millie began. "Are we going to get him back?" He voice was concerned but also contained the tone that she would not see Knives again.  
  
"We will do everything in our power to bring him back." Picard responded. He turned towards Riker. "Set a course for the Midway Island."  
  
Sorry this took so long. I kept getting distracted and not doing any typing. I hope this generates a little bit of conflict. And don't worry; Vash will get to go find his brother. 


	9. Super Weapons

Ok ok, I know it has been FOREVER since I last updated. But I will spare you my pathetic excuses and the suchlike. Thanks to a few death threats (or tear threats. Those work better) and you know who you are. I finally committed myself to just sit down and work until I had a new chapter for you all to read. So here it is. I worked on this most of the day and I feel quite happy about it. Unfortunately, Meryl, Millie and Rem will show up not as much over the next few chapters. I can't justify putting them in the next few situations. But there is quite a bit of Vash (well duh) and Knives (because how else would I do so many cruel things.) Anyway, a note to my readers who left me a review.

Asteria: I already mentioned your review for last chapter in an updated last chapter, but per usual I will thank you again for pointing out my mistakes.

Godofwar5000: Glad you approve. I was so nervous about staring this fic in the first place fretting over of any would even want to read it.

X-Over: While your ideas got me thinking about a great many things, I am trying to keep to an almost set storyline that is roaming in my head at the moment. While I want to write so of those encounters as well, it just doesn't fall into this one. Perhaps a sequel or another Star Trek series will make it. But that is for later.

JoJo the Jellyfish: and how could I forget you my death threat sending fan. My apologies for not updating sooner. I hope this result is interesting. And thank you for deciding it works ore in live action. It was hurting my head when I thought about it. Side note: there was a character in TNG and DS9 named Vash. SHE was the woman Picard met on Risa and had a few adventures with. But that doesn't really matter anyway.

Now that that is done. ON TO THE FIC!!!

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Knives felt groggy. The last thing he could remember was talking to his brother on some ship named the Enterprise. But that sounded ludicrous. No ship still worked. He rationalized everything as some dream he had been having. As he began opening his eyes, he could make nothing out that was familiar. His vision still blurry, he once again thought that perhaps he had been drinking.

'Why I subject myself to that I will not understand.' He thought. He had been drunk once or twice in the last few years, but it was never like this. He didn't feel hung-over. His vision was just blurry. Then he realized he was actually standing up. He was trying to rationalize sleeping while standing, but it was a bit harder to do. He tried to move his arms but something was holding them to the wall. He tried next to move his legs, but felt shackles on his ankles. His vision started to clear and he could barely see anything in the room.

What he could make out started to increase his heart rate. In the darkened room he could see a small table with a barely recognizable chair behind it. He couldn't see anything else in the room. He closed his eyes again. 'This is just a bad dream. I will wake up. Millie is probably fixing breakfast now.' He thought. Trying to keep calm became increasingly difficult. When he made a sudden movement with his arm trying to free it, the sharp and cold metal cut into his wrist. He could feel his blood trickle down his arm slowly.

'It isn't a dream. The last thing I remember was talking to Vash on the Enterprise. Then that light and, and...nothing.' His mind started racing to come up with an explanation of what had happened to him. But the more he searched the further from an answer he got.

He heard a door slide open in the far corner. As he squinted to see who, or what, it was multiple bright lights flashed on blinding him. He was squeezing his eyes shut, but the blinding white light burned his retina anyway. He looked down, and chanced opening his eyes for a brief moment. When he did, he saw that he was hanging with no shirt on.

As his eyes adjusted to the new light, he began looking up to try and survey the room. After his eyes had adjusted, he realized that the light was only marginally brighter than the light from the twin suns on Gunsmoke. While the direction of the light still obscured whoever was sitting behind that desk, he could see his black revolver lying on the desk. Its silhouette was unmistakable.

"I hope you have found your sleep comfortable." The voice was loud; and it rang in Knives ears. "But since you are up, we want to ask you a few questions."

Knives looked up, but the light still blocked his view of the people keeping him prisoner. "What questions could I possibly answer that you wouldn't already know the answer to?" His vocal chords felt raw. It was like he hadn't spoken in months. 'What did they do to me?' he thought.

"Judging by your voice, you still haven't fully recovered from your exposure. I will come back in a few hours, and we will continue our discussion." The man stood up. For a moment, Knives could see him quite clearly. His skin was pale, and his face was hideous. As he took in all the features, he remembered the species from the Enterprise computers. He was looking at a Nausicaan. 'Why do they...' his thoughts drifted off as a small phaser beam struck him in the chest. The setting knocked Knives unconscious again.

The Nausicaan tapped a communications button on the desk. "He still is not ready to undergo the procedure. Perhaps in a few hours."

An angry voice came over the system. "I hired you people to get me this. If you don't provide your services like you were supposed to, I will find someone else to do it." The system shut down, leaving the man standing there staring at knives hanging from the wall. His sight trailed off ad feel on the black revolver. "How can this primitive thing be a useful weapon? Meh." He shut the lights off and walked through the door. "Wipe his memory of the last few minutes again. I want to make sure he is as disoriented as possible when we do question him. And give him another dose of the antidote. His body still hasn't recovered from the poison we used to knock him out. I don't want to do this a twelfth time."

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The _Enterprise_ met the _Midway Island_. Both ships hung in space as they went over the plan for getting Knives back.

"We have approximately 17 systems on this course that could be where they are going. These systems are the only ones with habitable planets." Picard said in the conference room. Picard, Vash, and Captain Kevlar were the only ones in the room. "Data has provided us with an analysis of the best route that will cover the most area in the least time..."

"Captain, what happens when we can't find him?" Vash asked. "I found him by wandering a planet and it took over a hundred years. How the hell do you expect to find him in 17 systems?" Vash's concern for his brother was beginning to consume him.

"Mr. Vash, we are going to everything within our power to locate your brother." Captain Kevlar stated. "But Starfleet did leave orders to abandon the search should it take longer than 14 days."

"14 DAYS!!!" Vash yelled. "17 systems in 14 days you are lunatics. There is no way we could possibly find him in that amount of time." Vash slumped back down in his seat. Tears welling up in his eyes and frustration burned in his heart. 'And I can't do anything to help.' He thought. For once in his life, he was truly useless in the situation. Nothing he could do could save Knives.

"Vash," Picard started in a sympathetic tone. "That is more than enough time to search those systems, along with several others. Given that you and your brother are rather unique in your biological pattern; our long range sensors should be able to pick it up from 6 light years."

Vash slumped further into his chair. '6 light years may as well be 600 light years.'

The doors slide open and Data walked into the room. Given that he was an android, he looked like he was in a good mood. "Captain, I believe I have found something that will be useful." He stated.

"Go on Data," Picard's order sounded like a request with as gentle as it was.

"In surveying the information of the sensor logs from all of the incidents involving those ships, I have found that each one leaves a very distinct radiation trail. Further analysis has allowed us to calibrate the sensors to follow the ship that abducted Mr. Knives."

"Why didn't you come across this before Data?" Captain Kevlar stated.

"As I said," Data responded. "It is a radiation trail that is cleverly designed to appear as background radiation. The main sensor systems in processing the information overlooked it and classified it as background radiation."

"What made you think to look at that data, Data?" Vash hardly noticed that he sounded like he had a stutter at the end of the sentence.

But the android missed it. Both captains chuckled lightly. "I was attempting to analysis sensor information on the ships for a tactical purpose."

"So in other words, you happened to trip over it accidentally." Vash said slightly annoyed.

"I do not recall tripping over any information. Nor is there any record of such an event." Data responded. He had spent over thirty years among humans and still did not comprehend many of the figures of speech.

"Data, how soon until the sensors are ready?" Picard asked. Deciding it was time to get back onto track.

"The sensors have already been programmed. We are able to follow the ship to exactly where it went."

"Set a course and engage at the _Midway Island's _maximum warp." Picard ordered.

"I'll head back to my ship. We will prepare a few ground teams to assist in finding Mr. Knives when we get to this place." Captain Kevlar stood up and shook Picard's hand before leaving the room.

"Captain," Vash spoke up nervously. He had long since stood up. "What happens if they start shooting at us again?"

Data responded first. "It is unlikely that their ships will be able to mount a successful strike against two starships that are prepared for them. All we have experienced from them thus far is hit and run tactics."

"We will deal with that when the situation arises. Right now my primary concern is to get your brother back." Picard spoke confidently. 'If they do attack again, we'll be ready this time.' He thought.

The Enterprise and the midway island both turned in space and accelerated to warp 9.6.

As Picard, Data and Vash entered the main bridge; they watched the streaks of material hit the deflector shield and flash. Data walked to his position and sat down. His fingers ran quickly across the controls and he spoke without turning his head.

"Captain, Long range sensors have detected the path of the ship. Estimated time of arrival is 6 hours."

"That means we were closer than we thought. Inform the _Island_. We will raise shields and ready weapons one hour before we arrive." Picard ordered.

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Knives drifted back into consciousness again. He first noticed he was lying on his back strapped to a table. He clenched his teeth and attempted to remember what had happened to him. The last thing he could remember was talking to Vash.

'That just doesn't feel right,' he thought. 'I know there is something else.' His memory of the last tie he was awake slowly reconstructed itself. He could remember the dark, the blinding light, and a quick view of his tormentor.

"Dammit," he shouted to no one in particular. He attempted to lift his head and arms but found they were strapped down. His head was held stationary by some contraption he could only see the end of. He heard footsteps echoing through the room. But couldn't tell what the room was.

Out side the door, two Nausicaans had stopped another one.

"Our guest has awakened again. It seems as though the neurotoxin has worn off." The first commented.

"Ahh, good. That means I can discover this weapon he holds the key to. Go and get the truth serums. I will begin the process of controlling him." He walked through the doors. The room was quite large, and roughly circular. The lights were kept off so as to add to his prisoner's confusion. He walked over to the table and looked down on him. 'How could this man be any more powerful than a human?' He thought. "I am glad you have finally come around. Now before I begin, I would like to know about your weapon."

Knives opened his eyes. His bluff at still being asleep hadn't worked. So he decided to try and outwit the ugly beast. "You have already looked at it. It is nothing that you could find useful."

"That is the same thing I have learned from it. But my employer seems to think otherwise." He voice was harsh, but seemed characteristically uninterested in what he was doing.

"So let your employer come down to interrogate me." Knives could barely think. His head still hurt from everything he knew had happened and how much he didn't know he could only guess at.

"I think not. He is only interested if you are worth selling. He doesn't care about this procedure."

'If I'm worth selling? What the...?' Knives thought. This situation only seemed to get stranger as time passed.

Another one of the ugly beasts burst into the room. His voice was frantic but barely audible. Knives could only pick out a few words.

"Two Starfleet ships are headed this way Commander." The guard spoke. "One Sovereign-class and one Oshiana-class. They seem to be following our radiation trail."

"Damn," the Commander said. "Take all three ships and set up an ambush. Inform our allies on the _Enterprise_ to work some of their magic. Tell them that their share will double if they succeed."

"Yes sir." The guard ran back out the door. And the commander turned back around.

"It seems your friends are going to attempt a rescue. It seems I will have to speed up my process a bit." He walked over to the control panel on one wall and started hitting switches. The screens displayed various items. As he finished working the controls, the machine around Knives head began contracting. From it, several small protrusions began approaching his head. When they pierced his skin, Knives let out a painful scream that could be heard throughout the entire base.

"One hour to destination sir." The helmsman called out.

"Raise shields and go to red alert." Picard ordered. The bridge was partially lit by the red glow from the many signals.

Vash looked at the screen and kept counting down the time until he could get his brother back. Captain Picard had told him to remain on the Bridge. He could barely keep up with everything the officers around him were doing. Worf was running a tactical analysis, data was following the sensor readings, and Riker was working at one of the back stations doing something Vash couldn't even comprehend. Then there was all the other people ash didn't know. Moments after Red alert had been called, a security detail came onto the bridge and began passing out hand phasers to everyone. Vash recognized one of them from before in his quarters.

"All decks and sections reporting ready. Ground teams are prepared and waiting in transporter room 2, 3, and 4." Worf called out.

"Once we clear out any orbital threat, I want you and Riker to join those teams." Picard started. He turned towards Vash. "And I want you to go with them."

Vash blinked. "Me? What can I do?"

"You have experience fighting in those situations. It is your brother. You should be there to meet him when they find him." Picard calmly said.

"Is that really wise sir? A ground firefight is not the best place to send him." Riker called out from his spot at the back of the bridge.

"It is his choice to go or not. I'm just giving..."Picard was cut off by Vash.

"Of course I'm going down there. I'm the only one that can stop the angel arm."

"Do you really think he will use it against us?" Riker stood up and walked towards Picard and Vash.

"I don't know. But you are ready for everything but the angel arm. I'm not sure exactly how good your shields are, but I put a hole in the fifth moon and destroyed one city with it." Vash started.

"Given that information, it is likely that the _Enterprise_ would be unable to withstand a hit from such a weapon." Data commented.

The Bridge went silent suddenly. Picard was the first to speak after the brief moments of relative silence. "Then it seems our lives may rest in your hands Mr. Vash."

"Yeah, Pain likes me so much it brought friends."

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The guard burst in the door again. The commander was quite annoyed with the interruption again. "What is it you want?" He bellowed.

"The Starfleet ships are 45 minutes away sir." The guard responded.

"Inform the ships to attack immediately. I am nearly finished."

"Yes sir."

He turned back to his work. Knives had stopped screaming several hours ago. He had passed out from the pain. This was to be expected. The Nausicaan was implanting several devices to try to control him. But his mind was proving more advanced than their information let on. And with the Federation almost on top of them, he had to rush this together.

"I hope my new weapon will be ready for them when they arrive." The voice of his employer startled him. The man was able to sneak around rather well.

"I do not know if you will be able to keep full control of him. His mind is harder to deal with than I thought." He turned around to face the man. But got the same idea of what he was from before. The cloak and face mask effectively hid what species he was.

"Make sure I have enough control to deal with these ships. After that, we can take as long as we want."

"When do we receive payment?" The Commander asked.

"Once the Starfleet ships are gone and my ship comes to get me, you will receive your 2000 bars of gold pressed latinum."

"Just make sure of it. When not paid, we have a habit of turning on our employer." The Commander turned around and resumed his work. The other man left as quietly as he had come in. After he was gone, the Commander spoke quietly to himself. "If this weapon works as it is claimed then we will take it anyway."

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"Sir three ships coming in on course 115 mark 229." Worf called out from his position.

"We are still 23 minutes from the planet." Data called out immediately after.

"Distance to targets?" Riker ordered.

"Range is 30 billion kilometers. Firing range in 45 seconds." Worf returned. "They have dropped to impulse power."

"Bring us in range then drop to full impulse. Inform the _Island_ of our plan. Authorization to shoot on sight ad fire at will." Picard called out.

"_Midway Island_ acknowledges command." Data chimed in.

The five ships approached each other quickly and dropped to the same speed. The three fighters were the first to fire but their shots went wide completely missing both Starfleet ships. The Midway Island rolled to her starboard and began launching torpedoes from its forward bays. The six main torpedo bays lit up frantically as the torpedoes acquired their target. She continued to roll while the small craft attempted to escape. Its maneuver was insufficient and 4 of the torpedoes struck its shields.

The _Enterprise_ began chasing its first target. When it was right at the stern of the4 smaller craft she fired her main dorsal phaser array. The shot lanced out striking the shields. That shot was followed by another one, and another one. The _Enterprise_ banked off to begin chase on the third target. While the _Midway Island_ had been coming around for a second pass, the third ship attacked her port side. It began a run with a collision course for the _Enterprise._

"Prepare to o a 180 degree x axis roll to starboard. Standby ventral phaser arrays. Target life support and engines." Picard called out.

"You shouldn't kill them!" Vash hollered. "Please don't kill them!"

Everyone one the bridge looked at the seemingly mad Vash. Then most of them resumed their tasks.

"Correction Mr. Worf, Target engines and weapons systems." Picard ordered. The Klingon was about to object but a stern look kept him quiet.

The Enterprise began her roll when there were only a few kilometers between both ships. When she fired, it was from less than a hundred meters and the blast devastated the smaller ship. As the Enterprise came out of her roll, the smaller ship had already started to drift.

"One down," commented Riker.

"Apparently none to go, look." The helmsman said as he directed the attention to the view screen.

The Midway Island Had let lose another volley of torpedoes towards the first ship. The second was being attack by phaser fire from all directions by the _Midway Island._ Moments after the torpedoes hit the first ship; it began to buckle and finally detonated. The second ship had watched both of the others torn apart and began running from the scene.

"Did they have to kill the people on that ship?" Vash began trying to choke back his feelings.

"Resume course and speed for the planet. Assess and repair any damage done." Picard ordered. He then turned to Vash. "While I took your advice and showed those people some compassion, I doubt the Captain Kevlar would have. He had been in the Dominion War. He is used to fighting more aggressively."

"That doesn't give them the right to take another life." Vash was still holding himself in check.

"I suppose not. I will not try to justify it." Picard commented. 'How can he think that way when his brother was kidnapped by these people?' He thought.

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"It is finished." The Commander called out. His employer would be happy to her the results.

"Good. Now give me control of him. The Starfleet ships are almost here." The cloaked man said.

"Stop sneaking up on me. I may kill you inadvertently." The Commander was becoming ill tempered at this man. "You can control him by telling him what to do. It should work a few times. But his mind is very resilient."

"I will keep that in mind Commander." The cloaked man raised his left hand. The cloak covering it, a bolt of energy flew from the end. Killing the Commander on site. "It appears I have no need of you anymore." He replaced his disruptor in its concealed holster. He walked up to Knives and released the locks on his arms, legs, and head.

"Follow me my precious weapon. We have some starships to destroy as a demonstration."

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"Coming into the planets orbit now, sir." The helmsman called out.

"Data can you get a fix on Knives bio-signs?" Picard asked. Vash was just as anxious about that information as well.

"Yes sir, but it is hard to get an exact location. It appears that the area has dampening field in place. It will prevent beam in or accurate locating."

"So we have to look the old fashioned way?" Riker commented.

"It appears so." Data responded.

"Then let's get going," Vash said as he stood up.

"Data get beam coordinates and transfer them to the transporter rooms. Have medical staff on standby." Picard ordered.

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Knives walked outside. He was thinking for himself, but couldn't control his body for some unknown reason. What he could tell was that he was walking and he hand the black revolver in his right hand. He looked to the side and saw a man in a cloak directing him.

"Ok we are outside." The man said. He pulled out a small data PADD and began using its information. "I want you to aim your weapon at this point in the sky." He indicated it on the pad and pointed to the faint objects moving.

Knives' arm began to lift. He didn't want it to. But something was making him do it. Then it began to happen. The casing on the top portion of the revolver popped the small bolts and separated. The light inside began to glow wildly.

"I want you to kill them all with your weapon!!" The cloaked man called out.

Knives grasped the situation. He was about to shoot something in orbit with the angel arm. Then it hit him. The _Enterprise_ was probably in orbit.

He began screaming in his head. But his body would not respond to anything. He could only watch the horror of what was about to happen.

'Vash, Meryl, Millie, Rem, everyone, please forgive me. I can't stop.' He would have shed tears, but he was denied that as well.

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"Sir, there is an odd energy buildup on the planet's surface," Data informed.

Vash turned his head and looked at the view screen. He could feel his brother's thoughts. But he could not make any of them out from so far away.

"You have to get away NOW!!" Vash yelled. He did not know how he knew it, but he had a very bad feeling.

"What is ..." Picard's voice stopped when the blinding white light began to engulf the planet below.

The size of the hemisphere was quite visible from space. It would most likely need no magnification from their orbit to see very clearly. And just as suddenly as the light had appeared on the surface, a beam shot into space. The width of it was enough to consume most anything. Then it hit everyone on the ship.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Picard ordered, but he hardly had to even say it. The helmsman had already done so.

"The Midway Island is directly in the path of the beam!" Worf called out. The view screen switched to the other Starfleet vessel.

The _Midway Island_ had been orbiting with full shields and full power. When the angel arm beam struck her broad side, the shields flared violently. She lasted until the beam completely consumed the ship. Then her shields buckled, collapsed, ad the hull took the full force. Within moments, there was nothing visible of the ship.

The people on the bridge of the _Enterprise_ watched in horror. Ad the beam died down, they began to see what it had done exactly. The _Midway Island_ was no longer there. There were a few signs of floating debris. But the 555 meter ship had been obliterated.

Since the dawn of the federation, no ship has ever been completely destroyed in a single hit from an energy weapon. The crew of the Enterprise witnessed something that would go in the history books, but it had cost 550 people their lives.

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Ok ok , I know it is kind of a hard place to stop and ponder about. BUT LIVE WITH IT. It took me all day to turn this out. But this time it is much longer than before. Please send comments feedback death threats and such to me. I think you all know where to find me by now. And hopefully it no longer takes so fricken long for me to update.


	10. Preparation for a Rescue

Ok ok, I Know it has been a while since my last update. I'm sorry. I was having trouble writing this part for some reason. I had originally wanted to move father but it turns out I couldn't think that straight lately. First a word to the reviewers who have stuck with me through lack of updates and all.

JoJo the Jellyfish: While I doubt your death threats comment, I do appreciate all the others. I'm glad you caught that little point of irony about Knives being forced to do something he didn't want to do. I'm going to play off that a bit more later on, so watch for it. And while the other ship doesn't always get wasted, it just kind of happens that way. Anyway, here is an update.

X-Over: You'll know who the mystery guy is as soon as I do. But suffice it to say this guy is an evil bastard who will die. But you probably already knew that.

Crystaline-Dragon: thanks for the review. Here's the update.

Godofwar5000: thanks for the review. I'm glad it mixes well. I'm trying to keep up the good work.

Killereagle9999: like I said before, I'll do everything within my miserable little powers to keep this up. Here is some more to satiate your desires.

Brax The Great: I was implying the transformation. I should have gone into more detail for those that haven't seen the fully transformed one yet. Sorry about that. But the true focus was on what Knives was going through and then the shot itself and what happened afterward. Thanks for the reviews. Expect a lot to happen in the next chapter.

Now that is done. Anyway, it is 1 am right now, so I stayed up extra late just to finish this and get it out to you to say that yes I am still alive. So please enjoy. This chapter is a little more plot advancement along with some of my ideas on the show itself concerning the angelarm and its abilities.

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The only audible sounds were the various instruments all over the bridge as they worked. The entire bridge crew could not believe what they had just witnessed. The view screen gave an all too clear picture of the aftermath. After the blindingly white beam died down, there was only small pieces of wreckage left of the Midway Island.

"My God!" Riker finally pronounced. The shock was just beginning to wear off.

"Sensors indicate that there were no survivors from the _Midway Island."_ From the way Data had said the words, it was clear that his emotion chip had been turned off.

Vash simply collapsed onto the floor. He was unable to keep the tears from falling, nor did he even try. He buried his face in his hands and openly wept. His words we just loud enough, the person closest to him could hear. "Knives, what have you done? Have you gone down that path again?"

"Mr. Data, scan the surface for life signs." Picard ordered. His voice was low and holding back his feelings.

"Sensors are having difficulty penetrating the upper atmosphere due to unknown interference. This interference could have resulted from that weapon. Although it is uncertain." Data responded.

"Commander," Picard turned towards Riker. "I want you to take a team down there to locate Knives."

"Sir, it is inadvisable to use transporters. Sensors cannot detect if they will penetrate the interference." Data added.

"I wasn't thinking about transporters." Picard replied.

"Shuttlecraft. I can get a team of 10 aboard the type 11." Riker replied. "We can be ready to go in fifteen minutes."

Vash looked up at those words. As his mind raced with the thoughts of his brother, one thing became very clear to him. He stood up and wiped his face clean of tears. His face was expressionless, but his eyes were showing the hurt he was suffering.

"I'm going with you." Vash stated. The red coat was waving slightly from his movement.

Picard looked him in the eyes. "Our personnel are capable of handling this situation Vash. There is no need to risk your life down there."

Vash responded with a lower tone of voice. "I am the only person that can stop the angelarm from being used. And your people will be able to keep me out of trouble. And even if they don't, I've been getting out of things like this for over a hundred years. No one is better than I am at finding my brother."

Picard thought about it for a moment. But being a Captain gave him the ability to make decisions quickly. "Riker, Mr. Vash will accompany you. Proceed with your mission."

Vash smiled, but it was one of those empty smiles that was merely for the benefit of everyone else. He walked towards Riker.

"I'm ready to go Commander." He quickly palmed the silver revolver, double checking that it was in its holster.

"Let's go. Data, Worf you're with me. Security team 3, report to Ship's Armory." Riker spoke loudly as he walked for the turbo lift. Worf left his station to the security officer behind him. Data left his seat and walked towards the lift as well. Vash followed them all in. He took in a last view of the bridge as the doors closed behind the four of them.

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In the Ship's Armory, Riker, Data, and Worf were handing out Heavy Phaser Rifles Type-3a. The seven Starfleet security crewmen were checking the weapons and removing extra power packs from the racks. Each was taking a rifle, type-2 hand unit and a tricorder.

Vash watched them from the corner of the room. He had refused to take a phaser weapon, preferring his revolver. He pulled out his quick loads to double check how many bullets he had left.

'Six quick loads plus the six in the cylinder, which gives me forty-two bullets.' He thought quietly. He watched as each person prepped their weapons.

"Alright everyone," Riker called them to the table at the center of the room. "Before the interference from the angelarm this is the sensor telemetry we were able to get." The table lit up with an image of the topography. "Now we had picked up a building at these coordinates. And from our analysis and Mr. Vash's help we have been able to discern that the beam came from this point just outside where the building was." The image highlighted the spot.

"Sir, you said "where the building was." A crewman spoke up.

"Correct. According to Mr. Vash, when the angelarm is fired it destroys everything within the blast area. Vash would you like to explain it to them in more detail?"

Vash looked up from his thoughts. "Yes of course." He walked over to the table. "Since I have used the angelarm several times I can say a few things about its power. The energy comes from inside the user. It puts an incredible strain on our power but it is possible to use it several times in a row and for extended periods of time. If used without some resistance, it has enough power to tear apart the entire planet."

The younger crew members looked nervous. The same one spoke up again. "How are we supposed to defend against something like that?"

"I can counter the effect by using my angelarm. With the number of times I have used it, I have found one thing. The blast, while violent, will only destroy buildings. It will not kill any living creature."

Everyone at the table looked at him strangely. He began explaining. "When I used it at July, the entire population was still in town. I also shot my brother with it from 3 yarz away. The whole population survived as well as my brother."

"Even so," Riker interrupted. "Vash is going with us to counter that weapon so that it can't be used against the Enterprise. Remember, we have no transporter abilities because of interference. So if you get pinned down, you must call for help. We can't just pull you out."

"We will be working in pairs on the surface." Data started. "One man will stay behind at the shuttlecraft. Report in every 15 minutes. Should we lose communications, we will rendezvous back at the shuttlecraft 4 hours after landing."

"Remember, this is a rescue mission primarily. Only go to higher settings if stun is having no effect." Riker added in. "When you locate Knives, provide coordinates and we will rendezvous with you. Do not attempt a solo rescue." Riker looked around the table at each person's face. "A man is depending on us. It is our responsibility to bring him back."

Worf leaned closer over the table. "Were sensors able to detect number of life forms on the planet?"

"No, the sensors were having trouble detecting life signs." Data started. "There is no information on how many persons are on the surface. Or what defense systems they may have."

Worf seemed happy. He was going into battle with no information on the enemy he was to face, or what weapons they had. The others seemed more nervous about the lack of data.

"If there are no more questions," Riker began again. "Be alert. Just as data said, we have no idea what we are facing down there. Let's get to the shuttle."

Each member of the team filed out of the room behind the three officers and Vash. They made their way through several corridors before coming up to the large double doors of the shuttle bay. The type 11 shuttle was sitting facing the large hangar doors. The rear hatch was folded out allowing easy access to the rear area. Riker and data walked around the front and entered the cockpit. Everyone else went in the back and took a seat after placing their weapon in a corresponding spot above the seats. Vash took his seat towards the front of the craft. Worf sat across from him.

"Shuttle Montgomery, you are cleared for departure." The female voice came over the ships communication system.

"Acknowledged. Closing hatches now." Data reported from the cockpit.

The shuttles rear hatch lifted slowly and sealed.

"Engaging drive systems now," Riker began working the controls. "We have full power now. Ready for departure."

"Opening Main Shuttle bay door." The female reported again.

The Large door in front of them began to slowly open. The blue glow along the outside edge informed them that the force field was indeed working. The door finished opening leaving a view of the curvature of the planet and stars in its place.

"Beginning departure sequence." Data reported as he worked the controls in front of him.

"We are clear of the deck. Engaging thrusters." Riker stated as he continued manipulating the shuttle.

The shuttlecraft picked itself off the deck and began slowly moving forward. When it encountered the force field, it began penetrating. The field adjusted to allow the shuttle through without decompressing the bay.

"We are clear of the Enterprise." Data reported to Riker.

"Setting course for the landing coordinates. Raise shields and power up weapons." Riker called back.

The shuttle began its decent on the planet. The red glow of turbulence from the atmosphere highlighted the hull of the small sleek craft. The turbulence did not affect the small craft.

Vash sat thinking about Meryl, Millie, and Rem. He had lied to them. He told them that Knives had nothing to do with the blast that destroyed the Midway Island; Told them that Knives was a good guy and he wouldn't do such a thing ever again. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the yellow sunglasses. As he slipped them on, a stray tear slid down his face.

'How can I do it?' He asked himself. 'How can I save Knives this time?' He kept wondering. Before, he had faced just his brother. This time he was going up against someone that had convinced him to...'No, No! Knives would never have done that willingly. He promised me that he would never use the angelarm again! He was forced into doing it.' Vash told himself. 'But how could someone force him to do that?' Each question only led him to more confusion. Knives had a much stronger mind than anyone he knew. For him to be coerced into doing this it would take someone stronger.

Worf watched Vash. He could not help but notice how distraught Vash looked. He could see it even though Vash was hiding it well from the others. Worf simply watched. Allowing Vash time to work things out by himself. He glanced at the other people in the shuttle. All of them were wearing security yellow underneath the gray and black. All of them were enlisted personnel. Four men and three women. Worf's experience has told him that female personnel are just as capable as the men in Starfleet. He went over the search in his head while waiting for the shuttle to touch down. Visual survey, followed by sensor readings if possible, split up and fan out, search for any signs of movement. It all seemed simple enough to him. Now was the time he could allow his warrior blood to get its fill.

"We're coming up on the landing coordinates," Riker announced over the communications system.

Vash looked up and took a few deep breaths. He closed his eyes and waited for a rough landing. He could remember how hard the ship that he and Knives used hit the ground. Of course that was a crash and not an entirely controlled landing. He still expected something.

"Ok we're on the ground, opening main hatch." Riker stated.

Vash opened his eyes and looked at the Starfleet personnel. Each had already stood and retrieved their weapon. The rear door fell open. With a loud thud, everyone started exiting. Vash slowly walked off the shuttle. He began to squint his eyes at the bright sunlight. He glanced around and could see nothing but red and orange dirt.

"It's a lot like Gunsmoke was." He said to no one in particular.

"Alright, split into your teams and begin searching." Riker ordered. Vash waited for the others to leave. He had teamed up with Riker.

After they had walked for a few minutes Vash spoke up. "Tell me the truth, what are the odds we will find him in four hours?"

"Since tricorder readings are limited to 700 meters, not likely. But we won't give up." Riker replied.

"It took me thirty years to find him the second time. And that was only because I was told where to look towards the end."

"The Enterprise will find a way around the interference. That will make life easier."

"I hope we find him before he uses it again." Vash said. His concern was apparent.

"So do I." Riker replied.

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Ok so it isn't anywhere near as long as last time. Forgive me please. You know the drill by now. Read and review. It helps me think better.


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